In Nakhchivan there are lots of religious-memorial and civil structures, representing historical value: mosques, mausoleums, caravan-sarays, bridges, houses, baths and etc. Differing from the Shirvan-Absheron school of architecture, on a territory where the Nakhchivan School's architects had worked, buildings were mainly constructed from brick.

In Nakhchivan there are preserved up to our days architectural monuments of various periods starting from 12th century. Constructed in 12-14 centuries and preserved up to today monuments, are the best examples of the Azerbaijan architecture.

One of the outstanding persons of Azerbaijan's architecture and founder of the Nakhchivan School of architecture was Abubakr oglu Ajami. The influence, which he has rendered on his contemporaries and followers, is reflected in monuments of Azerbaijan's architecture.
One of the monuments created by Ajami is the mausoleum of Yusif Kuseyir oglu, known as "Atababa". Date of construction of this mausoleum (1161-1162 AD) was defined from its traditional built-in plate - kitaba. This eight-sided mausoleum consists from the underground plinth burial place (sardaba) and its onground top. Each side of this construction is decorated with various ornaments.

This ancient place to lead a secluded life now is just a historical monument

Other masterpiece of Ajami is the Momina-Hatun's mausoleum, also known as the Atabey's Cupola - Atabei Gumbazi. Mausoleum is constructed in honor of Momine Hatun who is supposed to be wife either of Atabey Shamsaddin Eldegiz himself, or of his son Jahan Pahlivan. The date, indicated on walls, tells us that this ten-sided monument was constructed in 1186-1187 AD. Surface of each side is completely covered by the ornament. In spite of the fact that the upper parts of a structure have some destruction, its height today is more than 25 meters. Here also exists an underground plinth burial place - sardaba. But most interesting is that there is no entrance into this burial place.

One of those creations of Ajami, which partially survived up to now, is an architectural ensemble near the Momina Hatun Mausoleum. The main building had been destroyed sometime ago, only two minarets and a Portal connecting them have remained. This portal was constructed in 1187 AD. In opinion of the researchers, this composition of two minarets and a portal was originally planned and designed by Ajami. The Khanagah mausoleum in Nakhchivan strongly differs from what we already have described. While the Momina Hatun Mausoleum and other similar monuments are structures of a tower type, Khanagah mausoleum is a structure of the mixed type: its lower part has the cubic form and upper is eight-sided. Ornaments show us that the mausoleum was made in 12-13th centuries.

Garabaghlar Mausoleum (detail)

The "Gulustan" mausoleum is one of the most valuable monuments of Nakhchivan's school of architecture. While the features of a tower structure are peculiar to this mausoleum, it has lots of original features as well. The plinth burial places at other mausoleums are located under the ground; here both levels are located above the ground. The lower level has the square form and upper one is twelve-cornered. All sides are entirely covered by geometrical ornaments. A surface of the mausoleum is destroyed. The structure is dated presumably end of 12th, beginning of the 13th centuries.

The Garabaghlar Mausoleum is located in the village of the same title. Besides, there are remains of two minarets and one building complex close to the village. It is supposed that, they were the spiritual buildings constructed in the end of 12th, beginning of 13th century.The date of construction of this mausoleum in Garabaglar is unknown. Presumably it is the 14th century. Mausoleum consists from the plinth burial place and the onground part, that reminds the traditional mausoleums of a tower type. The bottom of its upper level is formed from separate semi-cylindrical elements, thus its different sides are lightened in different degrees.

Colorful, plates were used for decorating of the mausoleum. Mausoleum is decorated with geometrical and vegetative ornaments. As it is peculiar to Azerbaijan's mausoleums the entrance door in portals of the Garabaglar mausoleum is considerably small in comparison with the portal and the mausoleum itself. Architects used this special method aiming to achieve the imagination of the mausoleum's being of the impressive sizes.

The name of the architect and time of construction of this mausoleum are not known, but we know that minarets of this architectural complex were constructed much later. One of three ancient mausoleums near the Dar village (Nakhchivan) still exits there. It is a three-stored structure: The first floor - underground burial place, the second - onground room, the third - cupola formed structure. The onground part of this mausoleum has the shape of an eight-sided prism. The time of construction of this mausoleum is probably the 14th century.

Constantly developing school of Nakhchivan architecture has raised the plead of famous, talented masters. In the 14th century such masters as Ahmad ibn Eiyub al Hafiz Nakhchivani and Sheikh ibn Juhanna Nackchivani have worked. As it is known, from the sources of 17th century, in that time there were many buildings in Nakhchivan. But there is no information that Nakhchivan's architects have constructed any building outside their cities in 16th - 17th centuries. It is right to suggest that since the 15th century, the center of architecture has moved from Nakhchivan to Tebriz - another developed city of Azerbaijan. But despite of it, the Nakhchivan school of architecture has saved its creative influence in this period.