Oguz: The Quiet Town Between Sheki and Gabala

Oguz is the small town on the road between Gabala and Sheki that most people drive past. It sits at the edge of the forest, under the high ridge of the Caucasus.

Its story is unusual. For generations, Jewish and Muslim families lived side by side here. Two synagogues still stand in the town.

Where Oguz is

The district lies on the south slope of the Greater Caucasus. Its office says Russia’s Dagestan lies to the north, Gabala to the east and Sheki to the west. Agdash lies to the south.

The whole district covers 1,077 square kilometres. It runs 37 km from north to south and 27 km from east to west. There are 33 villages.

A name that changed

Until 1991 the town and district were called Vartashen. The district office says the new name, Oguz, recalls the ancient Oghuz Turks.

Vartashen was only a village until 1961. It then became a small town and received city status in 1969. The district itself was formed on 8 August 1930.

The Jewish town

The national tourism board calls Oguz one of the main Jewish settlements in the country’s past. Its Jewish population peaked in 1930–1933, at 2,000 to 2,500 people.

The board says Jews and Muslims here shared holidays and customs. Many Jewish families left after the Soviet Union ended. A few stayed, and some of their families still live here.

The two synagogues

The synagogues are known simply as the Upper and the Lower, after where they stand in town. The Lower one dates from 1849 and was the first in Oguz, according to the board.

The Upper Synagogue was built in 1897 and fully restored in 2006. The remaining community prays there on Fridays and Saturdays.

That makes it a place of worship, not a museum. Ask us to arrange a visit through the community rather than turning up at the door. Our page for Jewish travellers covers the wider picture.

Houses and cemeteries

Walk the old streets and look at the houses. The tourism board says several Jewish-style houses survive. They carry Jewish ornaments and often face towards Jerusalem.

There are also two Jewish cemeteries. Treat them as you would any family graveyard: go with someone local, keep your voice low, and ask before taking photos.

Three kinds of land

The district office divides Oguz into three belts. The north is high mountain, on the slopes of the main Caucasus ridge. The middle is a valley of farms and orchards. The south is low hill country, mild and thickly settled.

Forest covers 40% of the land. The office lists more than 40 kinds of plants used in folk medicine. It also names pheasants, red deer, roe deer and mountain goats among the wildlife.

High and low

The highest point is Malkamud, at 3,879 metres. The office says a frost of −52 °C has been recorded up there.

The lowest point lies south-west of Garabaldir village, at 360 metres. The hottest place is Boyuk Soyudlu village, where it can reach 42 °C. That is a wide range for a district this small.

Old stones

The district lists 32 protected monuments. First on its list is an 18th-century fortress named after Surkhay Khan. It also lists a fort called Gavur Gala, which it dates from the sixth to the 14th century.

There is an early church from the Caucasian Albanian period, a 19th-century mosque and a 19th-century bridge. Most sit in villages or on hills, so a driver who knows the roads makes the day work.

Poets and scholars

Oguz is proud of its writers. The poet Mujrim Karim Vardani lived here in the first half of the 19th century. He finished a book of poems in 1840–1841, and the village of Karimli now carries his name.

The archaeologist Saleh Gaziyev was born in the district’s Khachmaz village in 1883. He later led the great dig at Mingachevir, before the valley there was flooded.

Walking

The tourism board says the high ground in this region is cool and damp, and hiking into the Caucasus is one of its draws. An essay on the tourism board’s site describes scouting routes for the long Transcaucasian Trail through Oghuz in 2021.

Read our hiking page before you go. Paths here are informal, and a local guide is worth far more than a map.

How it fits a trip

Oguz sits between two better-known stops. That makes it an easy half day on a route from Gabala to Sheki, or the other way round.

Stay a night if the Jewish history is your reason for coming. It gives time to meet people rather than just see buildings. Compare it with our route for the west in three days.

When to go

Late spring to early autumn. The forest needs its leaves, and mountain roads are easiest when dry. The district does not publish average temperatures, so we give none.

Winter is cold high up, and the upper valleys can be hard to reach.

Getting there

By road, between Gabala and Sheki. We have no official road figure from Baku, so we will not print one. The tourism board lists an international airport at Gabala, the nearest neighbour to the east.

Our page on moving between regions explains how to join these towns into one line.

Practical notes

Bring cash for small shops. Russian helps more than English, and a driver who can translate turns a walk through town into a conversation.

On Friday evening and Saturday, respect the Sabbath if you visit the Jewish quarter.

Arranging it

Tell us whether the synagogues are the main reason you want to come. If so, we will time the stop and ask the community ahead of your visit.