HOUSE ON THE SEAFRONT

There are houses in Baku, whose history is intertwined with the history of the city through the lives and destinies of the people who built them and those who lived in them. Being at the Baku Boulevard and looking at the Maiden's Tower, many of you have probably also admired the house to the right of it more than once.

Maybe someone noticed something strange in the building, the corner part of which resembles a palace in the classical style, while the "wings" seem to pay tribute to early modernism. At the same time, this ensemble has some "baroque" nature in flowery and somewhat pompous detail. It is truly a strange building that combines several styles at once.

This house on the seafront, built in 1910-1912, was perceived by Bakuvians as some kind of a shock and a challenge to the city of flat roofs. And that's what the one who built it with his money was striving for.

House of Hacinski

It was known to old Bakuvians as the "House of Hacinski". Along with the famous Ismailiyya of Musa Nagiyev, this unusual house formed the unique look of our city. It was built by Isa bay Hacinski, a well-known oilman, philanthropist and magistrate. The building was not opened for a long time, as opinions about its appearance differed greatly in the city council. Some thought that besides being in close proximity to the Maiden's Tower, the house spoiled the appearance of Baku. Public opinion was on the side of Hacinski.

It should be said that Isa bay enjoyed great respect among the people. He spent a lot of money on education. He supported several schools fully or partly. One of his educational institutions, the real school for boys, was in a building that now houses the Vatan cinema. Incidentally, this was the only place where the poor could watch movies for free. In 1910, Hacinski brought a film projector there and periodically sponsored the delivery of new films. In addition, with his support, 25 boys from the poorest strata were educated in Russia, and some of them continued their education in France and Germany.

Two names

So, until the 1940s, the building was called the "House of Hacinski". But priorities change, and later, by analogy with the Stalin skyscraper in Moscow (i.e. between these houses, though different in style, there is some commonality in pompousness), it became known as "the house on the seafront". It was mostly middle-ranking party workers and several petrochemical scientists that lived here. The most famous corner of the house, by the way, was empty - it was left for special guests. In 1944, such a special guest was Charles de Gaulle - head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic at the time. Here's what Soviet Informburo wrote about it then: "On 27 November, at 14 hours, the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, General de Gaulle, and his entourage arrived in Baku. At the airport, General de Gaulle was met by representatives of the government of the Azerbaijan SSR and representatives of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs and People's Commissariat of Education who arrived from Moscow. At the airport, decorated with French and Soviet national flags, an honorary guard was lined up. An orchestra played the French and Soviet anthems. In the evening, General de Gaulle attended the play 'Koroglu' at the Azerbaijan Opera Theatre."

The war hero and future president of France, de Gaulle, stayed here for a few days and lived on the top floor of the part of the building, which was designed for special guests. However, so far it is not clear why de Gaulle visited Baku at that alarming time. It was either planned to meet with representatives of the Supreme Commander or sign an agreement on the transfer of arms to Maquis groups (guerrillas).

On the house we can still see a memorial plaque with the name of de Gaulle.

But there is another memorial plaque on the building. It depicts Yusif Mammadaliyev, an outstanding scientist and the first academician of Azerbaijan in the field of chemistry. It was Mammadaliyev who made an enormous contribution to science, creating the best high-octane fuel of the time.

He got this apartment in the early postwar years. The thing is that before the war Mammadaliyev returned from Moscow, where he studied and worked at Moscow State University, and joined the Azerbaijan Petroleum Research Institute. Then he made some very important discoveries for the front, namely he improved the quality of Soviet fuel, which made the famous T-34 tanks the fastest in World War II. Mammadaliyev soon became head of the laboratory and got an apartment on the third floor of the house on the seafront. In it, he lived all his life. In the 1950s, Mammadaliyev became a teacher of Azerbaijan Kirov University, where he first was an assistant professor, professor, head of a department and, finally, rector (1954-1958).

Students often came here. In the postwar years, Mammadaliyev, like many teachers who received special rations, gave some food to students. As they hesitated to accept it at the institute, he invited them to his house for a feast.

"In these houses on the boulevard there were a lot of intellectuals, artists and scientists," says the musician Samir Racabov. "I lived in another house, also on the boulevard, but in the house near the tower, mostly party workers lived. I came here to visit a school friend. It was the beginning of the 1970s. From inside the house was also very beautiful, monumental and with high ceilings."

Legends of the "House of Hacinski"

There are two legends related to this house, which we cannot but mention. According to historian Ismayil Israfilov, the first legend says that Hacinski sent his nephew to Italy to study architecture. He paid his travel expenses and apartment, but did not send him an allowance. The result was that, on returning home, the dear relative designed this house for his favourite uncle, but left a "hint". Namely - the nephew did not build sewers, and this terrible "mistake" was found only at the housewarming, which is why there was a scandal.

"Another legend claims that Hacinski argued with someone from his millionaire colleagues that he would build this house in an incredibly short time - in just three months, because of which he instructed the architect to do everything possible to speed up the construction," says Israfilov. "No matter how much the architect hurried, he was still unable to meet the deadline, and the time was running out. And then Hacinski resorted to a trick - he ordered to finish quickly everything that catches the eye and wait a little with the sewerage."

The first legend is less plausible, firstly, because the name of the nephew is not mentioned anywhere (and none of the known nephews of Hacinski studied architecture in Italy), and secondly, Hacinski was more inclined to provide education for poor people whose parents had no means for it. And finally, the name of the architect is known for certain. It is a certain I. V. Edel who had built three more houses in the architectural centre of Baku -  at 14 Gogol Street (1896, several floors were built on it in 1954), a three-story apartment house at 3 Gogol Street (1890) and a palace-type luxury home for oilman Samsi Asadullayev at 9 Gogol Street (1896). In any case, given the fact that both legends contain a story about the sewerage, it is likely that there is some truth in it.

In general, we must say that Hacinski greatly contributed to the formation of the architectural appearance of Baku. In addition, he owned a magnificent mansion on Balaxani Street (now 39 Fizuli Street) and a picturesque villa in the village of Mardakan. In fact, Edel used his money to build a beautiful building for himself, which currently houses the US embassy.

Today the fate of the House of Hacinski is much more prosaic - it houses offices of companies, and the first floor of the facade is totally made up of boutiques of different brands, while the sides and the rear (the part that fronts the Maiden's Tower) have restaurants. Next to the building is (in fact, attached) a long string of beautiful two-storey buildings, one of which is the oldest antiquarian bookstore in Baku. This house is on the seafront - with its outbuildings and cobbled narrow streets leading down to it - has "settled down" and organically blends into a single, timeless architectural ensemble, the centre of which is the Maiden's Tower.