One of the masterpieces of the medieval architecture of the ancient city is the residence of Shirvan governors – the Shirvanshahs' Palace Ensemble which has preserved its historic and architectural features up to date.

In the Middle Ages when Shemakhy was in the period of disturbances, Baku developed in a relatively quiet situation. It was known that the strong fortress walls had been built in Baku in XII (1138 -1139). After the earthquake that shocked Shemakhy, the capital was transferred to Baku and the Shirvanshahs' Palace was erected.

The Palace ensemble consists of 9 buildings: the Palace, the Divankhane (Court –House), the Dervish's Mausoleum, the Eastern Gate (Portal), the Palace mosque, the Key-Qubad mosque, the Palace Burial-Vault, the Hamam (bath-house) and the ovdan (storage lake).

The complex consists of 3 courtyards with buildings towering above each other by 5.6 m. As the Palace is located in the area with rugged terrain it has no a single architectural plan. However, the buildings do not contrast with each other. Moreover, they group well. Looking from the different points one can clearly see that they are integrated part of the Palace ensemble.

All the buildings of the complex were built with local limestone ("badamdam"). The most ruined structure of the complex is the Palace building.

After killing of Farrukh Yassar in a battle between the Shirvanshahs and the Sefevi in 1500 the Palace was plundered. It is not known who lived in the Palace after the Shirvanshahs.

Continued wars between Iran and Turkey for the rule over the Southern Caucasus were run also in the territory of Azerbaijan. Located at the crossing of the caravan routes Shirvan was attacked frequently and as a result, the Palace changed hands. This is proved with the Murad Gate built during the Turkish reign. There are the monuments in the Baku fortress dated from the Persian sway. During shelling Baku by troops of Peter I in 1723 north-east facade of the Palace mosque was damaged.

After the seizure of Azerbaijan by Russia on 10 February 1828 and transfer of the Palace structures to the headquarters staff the renovation was done here and the Palace has been converted into the headquarters. A lot of valuable buildings were demolished. Moreover, the Alexander Nevsky Church was planned to be constructed there. The Palace was destroyed and neglected at the end of XIX. On 5 October 1918 Decree by the Azerbaijan People Republic "On Inventory and Preservation of Art and Ancient Monuments Belonging to the Public, Institutions, and Individuals" was published. It was a step taken by the government to make the first inventory of ancient monuments. In 1932 the renovation works started in the Shirvanshah complex under Decree of the Azerbaijan Soviet of the People's Commissars. In 1937-38 archeological excavations were conducted in the Palace under the guidance of the archeologist V.N.Leviatov and a lot of artefacts were found. For some periods a part of the Azerbaijan Folk Musem and the Museum of Religion were located in the Palace building. Since 1954 the Shirvansahs' Palace Complex has been converted into the State Historical-Architectural Reserve Museum. In 1960 a decision was made on the protection of the Palace as an architectural monument.

The Palace building. The Palace is a two-storey building in the form of an irregular rectangle. For proper lightening of the Palace, its southern-east corner was slotted. Initially, there were 52 rooms in the Palace, 27 of them were on the 1st floor, 25 – on the 2nd floor. The rooms were symmetric. On the 2nd floor, the arched rooms for Shah and his family were located. The windows of the 2nd floor have a nice outlook over the sea. They are decorated with stone tracery (bar-pattern –shebeke).

As the residential building had no a dome, in 1932-34 when the first renovation started in the Palace it was covered with a flat roof and parquet was laid on its floor. Masonry was demolished on the windows built in the XIX century and a part of the stone floor was repaired. Inter-floor communications were kept through 2 narrow staircases and the stairs located in the floor of the octagonal hall. As a result of the renovation, now there are 16 rooms in total on the II floor. The octagonal hall at the entrance is distinct among these rooms for its initial shape. The initial shape of the second octagonal room next to it has been preserved partly. Its arched roof was replaced with the flat roof. The rest 14 rooms have also been rehabilitated; however, they are not so interesting in terms of architecture. The magnificent main entrance is in the western wall of the building. The magnificent portal which represents all elements of Azerbaijan architecture of the XV century and has no any decorative element captures attention. There is a deep niche on the right and the left sides of the entrance.

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