A SMALL STREET WITH A BIG HISTORY

The history of Baku is not limited to famous sights: Maiden's Tower, Palace of the Shirvanshahs, ramparts and famous century-old houses of millionaires. Sometimes ordinary-looking and very inconspicuous streets can tell a lot more about the city. Perhaps they create its true image, complementing the overall picture.

We must say that the centres of all large cities are unified and somewhat the same - you can find familiar brands, boutiques and global chains of eateries everywhere. But once you take a few steps away, you find yourself in something a little more natural and pleasant. In Baku, among many such places, near Fountain Square, there is the familiar Vidadi Street - one of the finest places in the city with its unique rich history.

Tserkovnaya

Initially, it was called Tserkovnaya [Church Street]. And only in 1923 did the Bolsheviks rename it in honour of the famous poet and educator (although for some time it had a completely "sterile" name like Proletarskaya - editor). It was Tserkovnaya because it is here that the oldest Russian Orthodox Church of Michael the Archangel not only in Baku, but also in the whole of Azerbaijan stood (and still stands). It was built between 1841 and 1849 and stands on the corner of Zargarpalan Street (former Spasskaya).

In the history of this church there are many mysteries - it is not known at all how it appeared here. The book published in 1906 by archpriest A. Yunitskiy, "The History of the Churches and Parishes of Baku Province", says the following: "When the building was erected and who consecrated the church, no information is available about it in the church archive. The temple has one throne. It is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel of God."

The church itself was called a fleet church before the revolution, and because of this, the whole street and this area were also called so. The thing is that Russian sailors were quartered nearby - those that were poorer. And they visited precisely this modest church.

This street was called Tserkovnaya for a long time, and the title would have sunk into oblivion had it not been for one thing. In 1936, as a harbinger of the future mass executions, a wave of vandalism against religious facilities swept through the Soviet Union. In Baku, many mosques and churches, the largest ones, were demolished. And this one was just shut down and used as a hostel, and it was reopened after the war.

Tserkovnaya Street in pre-revolutionary times was a little smaller than today. It started from the Upper Mountain Street (today Abdulla Saiq Street), covered part of the Taza Pir area and reached the Great Sea Street (it was renamed as Kirov Avenue during the Soviet era and is now named after Bulbul).

Building work on this street began a long time ago, back in the late 1820s. On the whole, construction work in the area progressed as the city grew. It began from the Samaxi gates of Icarisahar and moved towards Bazarnaya Street (later called Husu Haciyev Street and now Azerbaijan Avenue), where migrants from Samaxi and Ismayilli engaged in trade.

In general, here on Tserkovnaya-Vidadi Street, people of different faiths and social status always lived, which is still seen from how diverse and varied its architecture is.

People of Vidadi Street

At 92 Vidadi Street, boxer Rufat Israfilbayov lived with his two sons in a small "Italian yard". His sons were named Rufat and Emil, and their father had been their personal coach since childhood. In 1994 they moved to the US city of Baltimore and soon became champions of the state. Reports of their matches could also be seen on our TV channels in the early 2000s. In the US, they performed under the pseudonym "Rufat and Emil Baku".

And just a few metres from them, another boxer - the well-known coach of the Azerbaijani national boxing team, Rauf Cabbarov, lived. He had trained two generations of our athletes, many of whom received prestigious awards. You may recall Ali Ismayilov, Vuqar Alakbarov and Rovsan Huseynov.

In the beautiful house №139 on the same street, Anatoliy Solomonovich Falkovich, a people's artist of Azerbaijan, lived on the second floor. He worked at the Samad Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre. In theatre works and feature films, Falkovich played Dzerzhinskiy (due to resemblance) for many years and was also noted in other roles. He starred in the films "On Distant Shores" by Tofiq Ta-gizada and "Avenger from Ganca-basar" by Rasim Ocaqov.

Our great ballerina Qamar Almas-zada also lived on this street before her marriage. It was a very poor home of her parents №112. Here she lived with her mother and strict father. And when her future husband Afrasiyab Badalbayli accompanied her, as soon as they came out on the street, she stopped him and said: "Either your mother visits us or you don't accompany me anymore!"

Yes, in those days when you addressed each other in such cases, you were required to be on formal terms.

And here in House №82, the composer, conductor and teacher, Murad Kazhlayev, lived. After graduating from the Baku Conservatory in the composition class at the end of the 1950s, he went to his native Dagestan, where he received many national and international awards. Six months ago, he came to his hometown with a concert.

Legendary Sara Asurbayli, a daughter of an oil magnate and philanthropist and who made great contribution to Azerbaijan's historic science, also lived here on Vidadi Street.

Vidadi Street has always even smelled somehow in a special way - there are almost no cars here, and the ground was littered with snowflakes of acacia flowers, while the scent of greenery drifted between two-storey houses, mixing with the smell of warm fresh bread.