Black gold of Baku
We are glad to introduce to you collection “Black Gold of Baku”, which gathered old photographs of Baku oil fields and plants. These unique pictures, taken by “the father of Russian photo-report”, the photographer from Saint-Petersburg Karl Bulla, take us to the past days and give an opportunity to see the birth of oil industry more than 100 years ago.
Oil capital of the world in the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries – Baku – this name will stay in the history of oil industry rise and development forever. It was here when hundreds of years ago the fire-worshippers – the followers of the Zoroaster’s teaching – performed their rituals in honor of mystical fire. It was here when in 1847 the first derrick in the world was holed. And by 1900 there were 3000 derricks in Baku, 2000 of which were producing oil on industrial scale. And, undoubtedly, one of the symbols of the city of the beginning of the 20th century was famous Black City, “the oil belt” of Baku, where the oil plants were concentrated.
Thanks to the oil boom Baku from a small town has turned into a large world industry centre, “Paris of the Caucasus”, as it was named by the contemporaries. This collection – is dedication to an amazing city, which adrift has become a place of origin of the entire industry. Baku has joined the aspirations and hopes of many people from all over the world and will always stay in history as the city of rapid realization of industrial thinking and engineering decisions.
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