The city has a wide range of cultural activities, amenities and museums. Heydar Aliyev Palace, which has a permanent local painting exhibition and a theatre hall for an audience of 1000 people, and a recently restored Soviet-time Opera Theatre where the Nakhchivan State Musical Drama Theatre realises theatre plays, concerts, musicals and opera. Many of the city's cultural sites were celebrated in 2018 when Nakhchivan was designated an Islamic Culture Capital.
Architecture is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Azerbaijan. The city is home
Momine Khatun Mausoleum,
Gulustan Mausoleum,
Noah's Mausoleum,
Garabaghlar Mausoleum,
Yusif ibn Kuseyir Mausoleum,
Imamzadeh mausoleum and
Mausoleum of Huseyn Javid mausoleums. The main sight in the city is the heavily restored 12th-century
Momine Khatun Mausoleum, also known as Atabek Gumbezi. Momine Khatun was the wife of Eldegizid
Atabek Jahan Pahlivan, ruler of the Atabek Eldegiz emirate. The 10-sided monument is decorated with intricate geometrical motives and
Kufic script, it uses turquoise glazed bricks. It shares the neighbourhood with a statue of its
architect –
Ajami Nakhchivani – and a bust of
Heydar Aliyev. Also from the 12th century and by the same architect, is the octagonal Yusuf Ibn Kuseir tomb, known as
Atababa, half abandoned near the main cemetery. In 1993, the white marble
mausoleum of
Hussein Javid was built. The Azerbaijani writer died in the
Gulag during
Joseph Stalin's
Great Purge. Both the mausoleum and his house museum are located east of the theatre. Although being a recent construction, Huseyn Javid's mausoleum is of great iconic importance, representing the ability of the exclave to live despite the Armenian embargo and becoming a symbol of Nakhchivan itself. The mausoleums of Nakhchivan were entered for possible inclusion in the
List of World Heritage Sites,
UNESCO in 1998 by
Gulnara Mehmandarova – president of
Azerbaijan Committee of
ICOMOS—
International Council on Monuments and Sites.
Cuisine Nakchivan’s signature cuisine includes
shirin plov (sweet rice with gravy; made with mutton, hazelnuts, almonds and dried fruits), dastana, komba, tendir lavash and galin. Lavash is made with flour, water, and salt. The thickness of the bread varies depending on how thin it was rolled out. Toasted sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds are sometimes sprinkled on before baking. It is impossible to imagine any table without bread in Azerbaijan and also in Nakhchivan. In connection with this, the assortment of bread in Nakhchivan is different; the tendir lavash as thin as paper, galin (thick), dastana, and komba (ash cake). If prepared to saj it was called lavash, "Juha salmag" – spread Juha, lavash bread on saj, and if prepared in the tandir, the "llavash yapmag" lavash bread stick. The fact is that it was necessary to stick lavash bread on the hot inner walls of the tandir. it is impossible to fight with lavash bread, as the proverb reads "Gyaldi lavash – Bitdili Savas" – "Came lavash – the end of the war". There are many people’s ideological expressions about lavash "Yavash-yavash -pendir- lavash " "Quietly (slow) – cheese lavash " or "Khamrali hash – bagryna bass", "Khamraliev" (kind of bread) push to the chest, i.e. . lavash bread – eat slowly. "Of lavash folk sandwiches are made in a roll shape – durmek. In the village where children ran out to play or school they were supplied with these sandwiches. Inside durmeks – rolls was put butter and jam, cheese, cottage cheese and butter, cheese with herbs, potatoes, boiled eggs, etc."
Sacrificial monument Ashabi-Kahf Ashabi-Kahf is a sanctuary in a natural cave which is located in the eastern part of the city of Nakhchivan, between the mountains of Ilandag and Nahajir in Azerbaijan.Since ancient times Ashabi-Kahf is considered as a sacred place. It is known not only in Nakhchivan, but also in other regions of Azerbaijan and countries of the Middle East.Each year ten thousands of people make a pilgrimage to this place.
Museums and galleries The city also has many historical museums, the literature museum of
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Nakhchivan State History Museum, The Nakhchivan State Carpet Museum, and the house museums of
Jamshid Nakhchivanski and
Bahruz Kangarli. There is also an archaeological museum found on Istiqlal street. The city has a few interesting
mosques, particularly the Juma
mosque, with its large dome. Modern museums in Nakchivan include the Museum under Open Air, Heydar Aliyev Museum and the Memorial Museum (
Xatıra Muzeyi), dedicated to the national strife between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Music and media The regional channels
Nakhchivan TV and now-defunct
Kanal 35, and newspaper
Sharg Gapisi are headquartered in the city.
Sports Araz Naxçivan one of the top futsal clubs in the European futsal arena and regularly participates in
UEFA Futsal Cup. Nakhchivan has one professional
football team,
Araz-Naxçıvan, which currently competes in the top-flight of
Azerbaijani football, the
Azerbaijan Premier League. In 2014, the city hosted Masters Weightlifting World Cup.
Festivals Nakhchivan is known for its "Goyja" fruit, sort of a cherry-plum, and hosts a traditional Goyja festival at the Nakhchivangala Historical-Architectural Museum Complex. Products made from goyja—jam, compote (drink), pickles, dried, lavasha (bread) – are shown at the festival. Another festival organized annually in Nakhchivan is associated with kata () – flat pie with greens, which is made with shomu (wild spinach), mixed greens,
desert candle,
pumpkin,
asphodel, nettle, bean or
lentil in a dough wrapped in the shape of an envelope and cooked in a
tandir. Kata festival is aimed to show and promote the preparation manner of various types of the kata specific to different regions of
NAR. The festival is held at the Historical-Architectural Museum Complex "Nakhchivangala" in April. ==Education==