Mardakian

an urban-type settlement in the Azerbaijan SSR. Located on the northern coast of the Apsheron Peninsula, it is part of the Azizbekov district of Baku. Population, 15,500 (1971).

Mardakian is a seaside climatic resort. Methods of treatment include aerotherapy, heliotherapy, thalassotherapy, and the grape cure. Persons with circulatory, digestive, and nervous disorders are treated there. Facilities include sanatoriums and a rest home.

Two castles with donjons topped with machicolation, built inside the rectangle of the fortress walls, have been preserved in Mardakian. One castle (1232; architect Abd aP-Medzhid, son of Masud) has a circular donjon that narrows toward the top; the other castle (14th century) has a quadrangular donjon and three-quarter towers on the corners. The Tuba-Shakhi domed mosque (1482) has also been preserved.