Nakhchivan is one of the oldest towns in the country; settlement dates back to the second millennium BC, and is the capital of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. This is an arid semi-desert region separated form the main part of the country by Armenia. This isolation is due to Stalin transferring the province of Zangezur to Armenian control in 1924. Nakhchivan city was an ancient trading centre and today it receives a lot of business visitors from Iran, Turkey and Russia.

The city’s main sights are the 12th century Momine Khatum Mausoleum, the historical museum and the literary museum, the baths and the Uzbek styled blue-domed Imamzade, the tomb of Abu Muzaffa Bahdur Khan.