AZERBAIJAN IN THE WORKS OF FRENCH WRITERS AND TRAVELLERS
Summary
This article says about works written on Caucasia and Azerbaijan by french writers and travellers. Great french
writer of the XIXth century Alexander Duma travelled Caucasia as well as Azerbaijan, visited Darbent, Baku, Nukha,
Shamakhy cities and provided wide information on our country, people, customs and traditions, culture in “Caucasia”
work. French writer Jules Verne in his work “Kladius Bobamak” describes a travel with train through Ganja, Naftulug,
Polu, Alat, Kurdemir, Baku cities of Azerbaijan. Jules Verne, passing through Ganja (Yelizavetpol), having paid special
attention to plane trees, architecture style regretted to stay a little time there. XXth century french geographer Barond de
Bey in his work “nearby Tatarians. From Darbent to Yelizavetpol. Road recollection of Baron de Beyn” description of
Azerbaijan took a special place. Though both Alexander Duma and Baron de Bey in travel works described
azerbaijanians as tatarian, when leaving our country they provided information on Azerbaijan nature, culture, high
human qualities, world vision of people from child to older and impressed.
Keywords:
the Caucasus, voyage, impression, literature, culture, customs and traditions, historical monuments
Since the XVII century, French writers and travellers have travelled all over the world as well as the
Caucasus and created interesting travel works while collecting information about the history, geography,
culture, historical monuments and lifestyles of the population of the countries and the cities which they had
visited. “Travels in Turkey and India” by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, “Travel Diaries” by Jean Chardin, and “A
Voyage in the East” by M. De Lamartine reflects the impressions of the travellers.
In XIX-XX centuries, the famous French writer Alexandre Dumas, the French geographer Baron De
Baye, the French writer and traveller Jules Verne, and Francois Drue visited the Caucasus, they had been to
various cities of Azerbaijan, and described the country’s geographical environment, historical monuments,
cultural values, customs and traditions in their works or travel notes.
The great French writer Alexandre Dumas visited Azerbaijan in 1858-1859s and wrote his famous work
“Le Caucase” – “the Caucasus” after this journey. Setting off from St. Petersburg, Alexandre Dumas visited
Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saratov, and Astrakhan. Dumas’ visit to Azerbaijan started with the
ancient Azerbaijani territory Derbent toward the south – Guba, Baku, Shamakhi and Nukha (Shaki), and then
continued to Tbilisi, the territory of Georgia, which was the highly populated area with Azerbaijanis. It
should be noted that the richest impressions of the Caucasus trip is directly connected with Azerbaijan.
Dumas gives the detailed information on the topography, geography and the history of the Caucasus in
the first part – “DE PROMÉTHÉE AU CHRIST“ (From Prometheus to Christ). The three highest summits of
the Caucasus – Mount Elbrus, Kazbek and Shat Elbrus, as well as the legends adopted from the Bible to
attract the readers are reflected in the first part. Admiring the beauty, the view and the greatness of the
Caucasus Mountains Dumas said that it was difficult for him to figure out whether these gigantic figures
were the mountain or the figure and noted that the Caucasus look like neither the Alps, nor the Pyrenees and
called the Caucasus the history of the Gods and humanity [1, 5].
Dumas highlighted his astonishment and love about the Caspian Sea during his trip: “I made a new friend in
the person of the Caspian Sea. We spent a month together with; I was always told about her hurricanes; but she
reacted to all with a smile; only once she frowned as a pampered girl when I had been to Derbent, raised its
waves in her big heart, covered her face with her bubbles as a veil, but the next day she seemed more beautiful,
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