Ivanovka

Ivanovka was settled in the nineteenth century by Molokans, a Russian dissenting Christian group exiled to the Caucasus, and it is one of the few places where that community remains substantial. The village kept its collective farm when they were dissolved everywhere else and still operates it, which is why the fields, dairy and machinery yards look the way they do. Wooden houses with painted shutters, kitchen gardens and a Molokan prayer house give the village an appearance quite unlike anything around it.

What you actually see

• The village houses - Russian wooden architecture with painted shutters and fenced gardens.
• The collective farm - fields, dairy and workshops still run collectively.
• The prayer house - the Molokan meeting house, plain and without icons.
• The food - Molokan home cooking, sold and served in village houses.

When to go

May to October is the season, with the harvest in late summer and autumn the most active. The village is high enough to be cool in summer. Winter is quiet and cold with snow on the surrounding hills.

Honest expectations

This is a working village, not a heritage site, and there is nothing laid on for visitors beyond a couple of guesthouses. The Molokan population has fallen sharply through emigration and the community is much smaller than it was. Photographing people and the prayer house should be asked about first.

Nearby

Lahij is over the ridge to the east, and Ismayilli is twenty minutes away.