Ilisu – Qaracay Valley, Azerbaijan

The small, stone-built village of Ilisu is set in the beautiful Qaracay Valley, nicknamed Qax's 'mini-Switzerland'. It is located amid dense woods at the foot of the Caucasus mountains, under Mt. Ahvay, not far from the border with Dagestan (Russian Federation). The road itself is very scenic both for the landscape and for a 16th century bridge 2km out of the village itself. Ilisu is a small place, built around a single street who still remembers its glory days when it was the capital of an autonomous short-lived 18th century Khanate coveted by Russia. Two modest castle tower ruins bear…