News: Karavan Rent A Car in Baku Publishes a Guide to Red Village (Krasnaya Sloboda)

170 km from Baku stands a settlement most tourists have no idea exists — until they find themselves standing on the bridge over the Gudiyalchay river. We at Karavan Rent A Car in Baku have published a dedicated guide to Red Village, known as Krasnaya Sloboda in Russian — the last compact Mountain Jewish settlement anywhere in the post-Soviet space — and decided it deserved to be told properly: not as a single line in a general northern route, but as its own story.

A synagogue that has faced a mosque for centuries

The most striking image the guide reveals is Red Village’s six-domed synagogue, standing on one bank of the Gudiyalchay and looking directly across the water at Guba’s Juma Mosque on the opposite bank. We call it one of the most vivid symbols of centuries-long coexistence found anywhere in Azerbaijan — two religious buildings mirrored in each other across a narrow strip of water.

A place noted by Alexandre Dumas

The guide also traces a genuine literary connection: the French writer Alexandre Dumas visited during his travels through the Caucasus in 1858 and left notes about the settlement — specifically remarking on the arched bridge over the river, which still stands today. The piece also gives an honest, detailed account of the community’s origins, including local legends, explicitly labelled as legends rather than settled historical fact — a question that genuinely remains a subject of academic debate.

A coexistence worth knowing about

Particular attention goes to a remarkable fact: majority-Muslim Guba and the all-Jewish Red Village have existed literally across the river from each other for centuries, and according to local residents, no serious conflicts between the two communities are remembered. The guide doesn’t present this as an idealised postcard — but the documented fact of such long, peaceful coexistence across a narrow river is genuinely rare and worth attention.

The guide also covers the Museum of Mountain Jews — the best starting point for getting to know the settlement — and offers practical advice on respectful conduct near the active synagogue.

The full text, with historical background, a Guba–Red Village comparison table, and answers to frequently asked questions, is available in the company’s Travelers Club.

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