When I visited here in late 2017, Agdam was part of an unrecognised country, called Nagorno-Karabakh. Unofficially it was part of Armenia. However, the Azerbaijani's didn't see it that way, they considered it theirs. Nagorno-Karabakh is another of those areas left over from the dissolution of the USSR in 1990. Just like Abkhazia where I had done some other explores, and Transnistria that I had also visited after fun and games in Kyiv with Fishbrain and Zero. Unlike other 'In Limbo' former Soviet/USSR states, the fight over Nagorno-Karabakh was very real and pretty active. In 1992 the area was a hive of active fighting between Azerbaijani's and Armenians, after the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh declared they wanted to be Armenian. A Russian backed peacefire was sorted in 1994, resulting in 724,000 Azerbaijani's moving to Azerbaijan. This left Agdam an empty city. 

A second war broke out in 2020, with Russia preoccupied with Ukraine, Azerbaijan seized the moment and launched and assault on the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. They captured the second city of Nagorno-Karabakh and the war ended 44 days later with an Azerbaijan victory. As part of the ceasefire, the area around Agdam was returned to Azerbaijan. The city was now called by it's Azerbaijan name, Aghdam. As of 2022, the town is open to tourists from Azerbaijan. On 24 November 2020, president Aliyev and vice president Aliyeva visited the ruined city and made a speech. They said people could move back in 2-5 years, and that the landmines would be cleared in 15 years?! Azerbaijan is a Petro State (dependent on oil) and is also an autocratic state. If you don't believe this, the Vice President Aliyeva is married to President Alieyev. She was appointed to the role by her husband. Nice!

Going back to 2017, I was doing a tour of the 3 Caucasus countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. A mixture of pure tourism and some urbex on the site. Travelling to the area is tricky due to the geo-politics involved. I had to go to Armenia last, because you can't go to Azerbaijan, if you've been to Armenia. And you can't go to Armenia from Turkey either! Azerbaijan and Turkey both being Islamic states. I caught a bus from Yerevan, the Armenian capital to Stepanakert. 4 hours of not hugely inspiring scenery, including a passport check passing into Nagorno-Karabakh. Stepanakert was a typical ex-soviet town with the usual style of buildings. Quite small with parks and tennis courts etc. It's no longer in Nagorno-Karabakh, as of the 2020 war, it's in an enclave called the Republic of Artsakh. Very changeable around these parts!

I checked into a hotel I'd booked online, and used the wifi to call home. It was a pretty basic hotel, and I set off to find somewhere to sell me food. Going to Agdam is pretty much forbidden, but this is one of those places where everything has a price. I asked a taxi driver to take me, and he agreed. It wasn't crazy money thankfully. We set off and were soon in the countryside. He pulled in and filled up his car in some bizarre fuel stop. Lots of bays like a giant stables, and pipes coming down from the ceiling. I guessed he was using LPG or alcohol or something. We finally arrived at Agdam, lots of levelled buildings, as you might expect. 

The taxi driver was rather nervous, particularly when he saw my big dSLR Canon camera. He wanted me to put it away. We pulled up to stop next to another car, and he said I had to leave the camera in the car. I should point out, that none of us spoke the others language. I tried to make clear there was no way I was going to leave my expensive camera in his car so he could drive off with it. The compromise was that I left my lens in the car, and took the body. 

A large administrative building, most of the damage to the buildings around here was caused by the Armenians after ejecting the Azerbaijanis. They looted everything they could from the buildings, and then torched them.

One of the few buildings left untouched, the Persian Mosque. To the left of me as I took this pic was a building I'd just walked around. As I did so there was a large APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier)! For obvious reasons I didn't take any pictures. 

I walked up to the Mosque, wondering if there might be landmines about. I kept to what looked like well trodden paths. A plaque outside the mosque. 

The main door to the Agdam mosque or Juma mosque (Azerbaijani) was sealed up. 

I was somewhat crestfallen, but luckily found a side door entrance, and I was in. This is the main prayer hall.  Armenians had graffitied the mosque, and even worse, kept pigs in it. These actions helped rally Azerbaijanis to build support for the 2020 conflict. 3 days after the agreed ceasefire, the Azerbaijan President came here to give the mosque a Koran, and shortly after an Imam held prayers with Azerbaijani troops.

I found some stairs that went up, and climbed to the roof level. Looking out at Agdam. 

I then got to the top of one of the minarets. Across the way was a military HQ of some kind. So I lay flat to get these pictures. The ruined homes of Agdam, once communities and life went on here.

Mountains of Azerbaijan in the distance, past the piles of rubble that were peoples homes. A military truck bottom right. This is a stone's throw from the line of contact between the two armies.

A former main street, looking out to Azerbaijan in the distance. This area since 2020 is part of Azerbaijan.

Looking south over residential areas. 30miles away in the distance, is Iran.

Mounds on the roof of the mosque.

Feeling briefly confident, I stood up for a selfie.

I climbed down, and left the mosque, my limited time up. The town felt very on edge, a soldier would randomly walk past a building, or pop out of a doorway. As I walked to the taxi, the heavens opened, and it chucked it down. I asked the driver to stop at a crossroads towards the outskirts. However the torrential rain limited what I could do. 

Disheartened by the weather and the probably understandable taxi driver's nervousness, I accepted defeat here, and told the driver to return to the capital. 

Since the brief conflict in 2020, the Azerbaijanis have promised to revive Aghdam with all sorts of thrills and spills, however, at the moment, it's a less dangerous tourist attraction of mostly rubble and lives upended.