Lerik
A mountain land in southern Azerbaijan: home of the Talysh, of legendary long-livers and of the country's wettest, greenest air.
A land of mountains, forests and long life
Lerik is a mountain district in southern Azerbaijan, in the very heart of the Talysh Mountains, near the border with Iran. It is a green, wet and cool land: high peaks, dense forests, springs and mountain pastures — and dozens of villages scattered across the slopes.
But above all Lerik is famous for its long-livers: from here came the legendary Shirali Muslimov, said to have lived 168 years. The Museum of Longevity works here, and the district itself has long become a symbol of a long and healthy life in the mountains. This site is about the nature of Lerik, about its Talysh people and about the secret of their longevity.
Lerik in numbers
Here the air, the water and the mountains seem to lengthen a person's life themselves.
A land where time runs differently
Lerik is one of the oldest inhabited places in Azerbaijan: in the local Buzeyir cave traces of Palaeolithic humans have been found. For millennia the Talysh have lived here, keeping their language, their customs and the unhurried rhythm of mountain life.
About the TalyshThis site is cultural and educational. The age of Shirali Muslimov (168 years) is given according to legend and the Book of Records and is not reliably confirmed. Some images were created with AI.