Azerbaijan: the land of burning flames

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Cactus Travel Azerbaijan

  Our accredited tour guide and professional driver will pick you from your hotel or apartment and take you to the Ateshgah Fire Temple and Yanardag Burning Mountain

  1 minute • Admission ticket not included
• 2
  Ateshgah - Fire Temple

  Ateshgah often called the "Fire Temple of Baku" is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani town, a suburb in Baku. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably due to the dwindling of the Indian population in the area. The Baku Ateshgah was a pilgrimage and philosophical center of Zoroastrians from Northwestern Indian Subcontinent, who were involved in trade with the Caspian area via the famous "Grand Trunk Road". The Temple of Fire "Ateshgah" was nominated for List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO in 1998

  50 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 3
  Yanar Dag

  Yanardag is natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku. Flames jet into the air 3 metres (9.8 ft) from a thin, porous sandstone layer. The reason offered for the Yanar Dag fires is the result of hydrocarbon gases emanating from below the earth's surface. Alexandre Dumas, during one of his visits to the area, described a similar fire he saw in the region inside one of the Zoroastrian fire temples built around it. Only a handful of fire mountains exist today in the world, and most are located in Azerbaijan. Due to the large concentration of natural gas under the Absheron Peninsula, natural flames burned there throughout antiquity and were reported on by historical writers such as Marco Polo. People often go there to see these dancing flames which never get extinguished and enjoy a cup of tea at the nearby café. It's a fascinating phenomenon to watch, especially at dusk. It's easy to understand how such eternal fires, fueled from the earth itself, became objects of worship.The appearance of the Zoroastrians in Azerbaijan almost 2,000 years ago is closely connected with these geological phenomena, and, according to one theory, the name "Azerbaijan" itself was derived from the word for "fire" in Persian. The cult of fire worship was paramount throughout the history of pre-Islam in this region.

  50 minutes • Admission ticket not included

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Please kindly contact before booking

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