Lerik

Distance from Baku	323 km
Population	77 300 people
Transport	Motor transport:     Baku - Lankaran – Lerik buses (7 hours)

Leric is one of the most picturesque corners of Azerbaijan and is situated at the top of the Talish Mountains. Here it seems you can touch the sky if you stretch your hands high enough.The nature hasn’t refused to share its beauty with it. The grandiose Komurgoy (1492m) and Gizyurdu (2433m) mountains, the boundless forests, the rivers and waterfalls as limpid as crystal, the fresh air and the fertile soil are the components of the nature in Leric.If there is no snow anywhere in the country during the fall or winter time, it is always possible to play with snow in Leric. The average temperature in the summer is +20C but can go up to +25 C. The Buludul spring, having an ingredient rich with more than 30 medical microelements, (18 km away from the center of the region), the Zeringala spring (20km) and the Zuvand spring (25km) are famous recreation zones.There is a great opportunity for hunting, as hogs, rabbits, foxes, partridges and ducks live here.

It is possible to find leopards in the inaccesible places of the mountains. Along with the beautiful nature, the region has its own culture and history which are well known and respected. After the discovery of a cave, it was that people from the Stone Age lived here. There are numerous historical monuments in this region. The old cave “Buzeyir” where the oldest men lived, the tower Khoca Seyid (15th century), and a mosque in the Kulekeran village (19th century), in the Mistan village, at 2438m bellow sea level, the place of an ancient man called “Gizyurdu”, the tower “Baba Isa” in the Mondigah village, the Pir Yusif mausoleum near the Kekonu village and the Jabir mausoleum (12-14th century) are being protected as historical monuments. The statues of goats made of stones still stand on the way from Jangemir to the Jabir mausoleum (12-14th century). There is a tower of the caliph Zakariyya near the Jangamiran village. The ancient trees in the village are also conserved as historical monuments. Famous French writer, Aleksandr Duma, visited this village while travelling the Caucasus and saw these monuments as well as talked to the people personally. In one of his works, he described one of the ladies who lived in this village.Leric has always been the land of longlivers. An inhabitant of this region, Shirali Muslumov broke a world record for being the oldest man in the world. He has been included in the list of the Guinness World Records for being 163 years old (1812-1975). Another one of his countrymen, Mahmud Eyvazov lived to be 150 years old (1808-1958). Today, there are people who are over 100 and haven’t lost their physical abilities. Leric is the administrative center of the region, located in an area completely surrounded by mountains and fertile plains. Make time to visit the Local Ethnography Musuem and see the Memorials of people killed in the Garabagh war. For those who want to spend their vacations in the nature, there are numerous recreation and tourism centers in Leric which will make you feel like you are in the heaven.