The mausoleum and pilgrimage site becomes especially crowded in summer. It is appropriate and compulsory to wash hands with holy water flowing from mountain springs prior to approaching the mausoleum.[4]
History
The site is considered to be the meeting place of the prophets Moses and Khidir.[5]
For drivers and passengers going from Baku to the northern districts of Azerbaijan, including to Siyazan, Quba, Qusar, Khachmaz and Nabran, and to Russia along the Baku-Rostov highway, the nearby village of Beshbarmag is often the first destination, with a fuel station and resting place located in the village. In the village there are shops, cafés and restaurants, located near the white-stone mosque, several hundred meters below the Pir Khidir Zinda mausoleum.
Legends about Khizir
According to one of widely spread legends, Khidir served in the army of Alexander the Great and helped the great commander to find a spring of fresh water in the outskirts of Beshbarmag Mountain.[6][a]
Gallery
An inscription on the door of the mausoleum
The mausoleum dome in 2014, top right of the image, relative to Beşbarmaq, with part of the village in the foreground
