Things to do
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Kish Albanian Church
A round-towered church in the village of Kish, a few kilometres above town, is held to be among the oldest Christian foundations in the Caucasus, with excavated graves displayed under glass in the floor. Thor Heyerdahl funded the restoration and took an interest in the burials. Marshrutkas run up from Sheki, and the visit takes under an hour.
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Palace of Shaki Khans
Summer residence of the khans, built in the eighteenth century without nails and decorated with shebeke windows of coloured glass set into wooden lattice. Frescoes of hunts and battles cover the upper rooms. Entry runs on short guided slots and photography inside is restricted, so the queue moves in waves and a wait is normal in summer.
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Sheki Bazaar
Produce, hazelnuts, honey and dried fruit fill the market below the old town, busiest on weekend mornings when growers come down from the valleys. Coppersmiths and a few silk traders still work the back rows. Trading thins out by early afternoon, and the halva shops nearby keep going later.
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Sheki Fortress
Ramparts raised in the mid eighteenth century ring the upper town, enclosing the khans' palace, a former church now used as a museum and a garden of plane trees. Walking the wall gives the clearest sense of how the settlement was laid out. Most of the ground inside is open access, and the museums keep their own hours.