The Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture has begun work on the preparation of a nomination dossier in order to include the historical center of Shusha in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

The inclusion of the Shusha Historical and Architectural Reserve, founded in 1977 at the initiative of the national leader Heydar Aliyev, in the preliminary list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001 is one of the important steps in this direction.

The Shusha Historic and Architectural Reserve includes historical monuments like  the Upper and Lower Govharaga mosques, Khan gizi Natevan’s hose, Garabag khan palace, Vagif mauzoleum, Mirza Salah bey Zohrabbeyov’s residential house, Shusha kurgan, Shusha cave camp, Shusha fortress, and others.

In total, there were 549 ancient buildings in Shusha, including a total length of 1,203 meters streets laid with stone, 17 quarter springs, 17 mosques, 6 caravanserais, 3 mausoleums, 2 medrese, 2 castles, fortress walls as well as 72 important art and historic monuments, houses of state figures, and other renowned persons.

Notably, Azerbaijan and UNESCO have been enjoying successful cooperation since 1992. In 2003, the parties signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

Many Azerbaijan's cultural sites have been included into UNESCO's World Heritage List: Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace and Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape.