Chiraq Qala On a road back we will visit Chiraq Castle. The remnains of Chiraq Castle sit very impressively at 1200m on a cliff top above the forested sanatorium of QalaAlti and associated Mashrif village. It’s one of the few castle ruins in Azerbaijan to retain a real castle-shaped silhouette and makes a worthwhile and reasonably easy diversion if you’re driving between Baku and Quba. Part of a defensive chain for 1600 years, the name Chirax means ‘lamp’ for beacon fires lit here to warn of approaching enemy armies. During the 18th century it was the southernmost outpost of Quba’sFatali Khan. Never stormed, it simply fell into disuse. Today the main knob of stone and brickwork that remains is teetering ever more perilously on a rock which is being eroded from beneath. The authorities have yet to undertake minimal repairs to bolster the site, as they did at Old Qabala. The need is now very urgent if the most impressive remaining fortress tower of the region is not to collapse. Hidden in the forest beneath are many more wall sections