By Kristen Muthig
Enquirer staff writer

LEBANON - If this is Tuesday, this must be Fort Ancient.

A delegation from the small southwest Asian country of Azerbaijan is getting a three-week immersion into Greater Cincinnati's museums and historic sites, and today, Warren County is on the itinerary.

The nine visitors, who include museum directors, archaeologists, preservationists and musicologists, will lunch at the 201-year-old Golden Lamb Inn, and visit the Warren County Historical Society Museum and Fort Ancient State Memorial.

The International Visitors Council of Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization that promotes links with the rest of the world through such educational exchanges, put together the program of tours and visits.

It's meant to teach fund raising, marketing, and management techniques and to share tips on planning cultural and educational events that the international visitors can apply to their own institutions.

Fort Ancient site manager Jack Blosser says many local sites have learned to operate with limited funding.

"When it comes to humanities, we all share a common bond - no money," he said.

"We are blessed to be here," said Alla Bayramova, director of the State Museum of Azerbaijan Musical Culture. "It is very interesting and important to know another culture from the inside. We shall try to get as much useful contact and individual and professional contact as we can."

Other stops for the group will include the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Cincinnati Art Museum, Shaker Village in Pleasant Hills, Ky., and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The delegates will also give a public presentation on historical and cultural preservation in Azerbaijan at 6 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Fourth and Walnut Center in Cincinnati.

For information, call 241-7384.

About Azerbaijan

The former Soviet Republic borders the Caspian Sea between Russia and Iran. The Muslim-majority nation of almost 8 million people is slightly smaller than the state of Maine.

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E-mail kmuthig@enquirer.com