Legend and history

It was in ancient times, at the beginning of the 6th century AD. A caravan of merchants was passing by the area where the city of Naftalan is located today. In those lands there were many lakes with cloudy water. To prevent harm to the camels, they were driven away from the water bodies.

The first mentions of Naftalan are found in the works of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1201), where he writes about his observations of caravans transporting Naftalan oil from the village of Safi-Kurd, located near the present-day city of Naftalan.