Why Was the Presidential Residence Established in Zagulba? The Story of a Place Chosen by Nature Itself

Looking down on the northern Absheron coast, it is difficult not to notice a pattern. Azerbaijan's most restricted government compound — the presidential residence in Zagulba — is located neither in central Baku, nor amid the oilfields, nor even on the most prestigious stretch of coastline. It lies between two ancient settlements, Buzovna and Bilgah, on a relatively narrow strip of land where the sea meets limestone cliffs and the north wind passes freely across the entire peninsula.

At first glance, the choice seems accidental.

But a look at the history makes clear that it was made long before the emergence of independent Azerbaijan and was dictated less by politics than by geography.

According to a man who took part in the decision, the state merely formalized a choice that nature itself had made several thousand years earlier.

The Commission That Searched for the Best Site on Absheron

In the mid-1980s, I happened to hear this story from an elderly Soviet party official. In the early 1930s, he had served on a state commission created on the instructions of Mir Jafar Baghirov, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan.

The commission had a practical task: to find a site on Absheron where government dachas, sanatoriums and holiday homes could be built for the republic's leaders.

The commission surveyed various parts of the peninsula.

It studied the climate, terrain, wind patterns, hydrogeology and proximity to the sea.

It was then, my interlocutor said, that the specialists settled almost unanimously on Zagulba.

According to him, the choice was so obvious that almost no serious dispute arose.

Air That Heals the Heart

Zagulba's main advantage was considered to be its distinctive microclimate.

A steady airflow passes through the area, the former commission member explained, created by the combination of the open sea, the terrain of northern Absheron and the constant circulation of northerly winds.

Today, such characteristics would be described by specialists in medical climatology.

At the time, people used simpler language.

It was believed that this air had a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system.

That is why cardiology sanatoriums were later established here, treating thousands of people from across the Soviet Union.

Even if modern medical research would require further testing of such conclusions, the very construction of specialized health resorts shows how highly Zagulba's natural features were valued.

Geography Working Together With Climate

But it was not only about the wind. Zagulba occupies a relatively high coastal terrace. It overlooks the sea. Limestone ledges provide natural drainage. Freshwater aquifers run underground and emerge toward the coast around the seaside cliffs.

For centuries, these springs supplied water to local residents and travelers.

For the commission, this had an entirely practical significance.

Any major government residence needed a reliable water supply.

On Absheron, where fresh water has always been a valuable resource, the presence of underground springs was a major advantage.

The exposed nature of the peninsula's northern section also played an important role.

Unlike in many other parts of Baku, cool northerly winds from the Caspian Sea reach the area unobstructed.

They moderate the summer heat and create a distinctive microclimate that is still regarded as one of the most comfortable anywhere on Absheron.

A Place Chosen Long Before Soviet Rule

Curiously, Zagulba's history began long before the emergence of the Soviet elite.

Just a few kilometers away are archaeological monuments whose age is measured in millennia.

The Umid-gaya rock massif preserves Bronze Age petroglyphs, cup-shaped ritual depressions and traces of ancient sacred activity.

Nearby are Buzovna's old necropolises, medieval pirs, or shrines, and ancient settlements.

All this indicates that northeastern Absheron attracted people for many thousands of years.

Of course, Bronze Age inhabitants were not looking for a site for a government residence.

But like the Soviet specialists, they knew how to choose places with favorable natural conditions.

At times, an unexpected continuity emerges between ancient archaeology and modern government geography.

From 'Baghirov's Dacha' to the Presidential Residence

Once the site had been selected, construction of government facilities began.

The dacha of the republic's Communist Party first secretary occupied the central position.

For decades, residents of Buzovna and Bilgah simply called the complex 'Baghirov's dacha.'

The name outlived Mir Jafar Baghirov himself.

It outlived the Soviet Union.

It outlived the change in political system.

Even after Azerbaijan restored its independence and the former government dacha became a presidential residence, many long-time residents continued to use the old popular name.

Such place names rarely arise by chance. They become part of collective memory.

Politics Changes. Geography Remains

Zagulba's history shows that the choice of sites for those in power is not always determined solely by considerations of security or prestige.

Sometimes the decisive factors are things that cannot be changed by decree.

That is why, nearly nine decades after the state commission's decision, the administrative function of this stretch of coastline has remained virtually unchanged.

The country, its state symbols and its leaders have changed. But the place has remained the same.

The point is that there are events in which the leading role is played not by a person but by the landscape.

Zagulba is one such example.

Perhaps that is why different eras have arrived at the same conclusion again and again.

Sometimes the best sites for power are not chosen by politicians. Nature itself chooses them.

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The Mystery of the “Hunnic Cemetery”: What Is Hidden in Buzovna’s Forgotten Necropolis?

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Where History Has Not Yet Ended