Meditate at the Cradle of Sufism

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The Diribaba tomb is a two-floor tomb built at the bottom of a mountain in the Mereze village of Shamakhi (now the city of Gobustan). The Diribaba tomb also serves as a mosque. The name of the architect of this building, which was built in year Hagira 805 (Gregorian 1402-1403), is unknown. The tomb had been destroyed many times in the following centuries and at last in 1955 restoration work was carried out. It has been repaired and achieved its current form. This work of art stands on the hillside looking down on a valley and is constructed using cut stones. It is a simple but strong building. The first floor is the principle area, which is vaulted in four directions, and the upper floor has a saloon with a dome on squinches. There is also a room (cave) carved into the rock on the second floor. From here, by a staircase, you can reach the skirts of the dome and the rocks on which the tomb rests.

 

The closest to the Diri Baba Tomb in the Asian Turkish architecture is the Parav Bibi Tomb-mosque in Rabat-Ferava in Turkmenistan.

On the other hand, architectural works of art carved partially in rocks and built partially on rocks can also be seen in the Turkish Buddhist architecture or in Middle Asia Buddhist architecture especially as cave temples carved into rocks.