Palace of Seyid Mirbabayev, French Renaissance palace in Azneft Square, Baku, Azerbaijan

The Palace of Seyid Mirbabayev is a three-storey building at 1 Niyazi Street, facing Azneft Square and the western shore of the Caspian. Architect Pavel Sternberg designed it in the French Renaissance style, with a domed central section, corner projections and rooms arranged in two tiers along a courtyard-facing corridor.

The design was approved on 25 May 1893 and construction began that same month for merchant Mikael Aramyants, who lost the new building in a card game at the British Club; his wife saved it by paying the winner with her jewellery. The auctioneer found no Baku buyer and travelled to Tbilisi, where singer Seyid Mirbabayev, advised by Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, bought it and divided it into flats. During the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic the British consulate occupied the ground floor; after Soviet power the Bolsheviks confiscated the property and Mirbabayev emigrated to France.

The building shows how oil wealth shaped Baku's architecture, as wealthy businessmen incorporated European styles into their homes. Its decorated stone facade reflected the tastes of rich owners who displayed their power through elaborate construction.

The palace stands at 1 Niyazi Street, on Azneft Square, with its main facade facing the western side of the Caspian coast. It now houses the head office of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, so the interior is not open to visitors; the facade and stonework can be seen from the street. Light repair work was carried out in the 1990s.

The first owner, merchant Mikael Aramyants, lost the newly built palace in a card game at the British Club. His wife saved it by paying the winner with her jewellery, but he soon had to sell it to Seyid Mirbabayev.