Mystic Ateshgah and Yanar Dag Tour

Sightseeing  :  Azerbaijan  :  Baku  :  Baku  :  Historical & Heritage Tours

Mystic Ateshgah and Yanar Dag (Burning Mountain) 4-hour tour combines the full-day exploration of two ancient and historical places. Which have been tied by culture and history for centuries. With your local guide, you will learn about history and further interesting facts and legends related to Ateshgah and Yanar Dag. Ateshgah, the fire temple of Indian fire-worshipers, is one of the most interesting and peculiar historical monuments located near Baku.The guide will pick you up from Sahil metro station and start heading to the ancient Zoroastrian temple Ateshgah which is considered as an authentic Azerbaijani exotic site to visit. It is located approximately 30 km from the center of Baku in the suburb of Surakhany. During that period, you will learn a lot about the temple from your guide, particularly, more about unique natural phenomenon as burning natural gas outlets. The history of Atashgah goes back to the time of the Sassanids, when Zoroastrianism was the main religion in this region. During The Arab caliphate invasion some of the fire-worshippers did not accept Islam and were eventually forced to return to India, where the history of the fire religion continued. A part of the population of the Caucasus remained fire worshippers even after the introduction of Islam.

In the second part of visit, after visiting the temple you will directly go to the Yanar Dag which is not far from Surakhani temple. It is the most famous and popular tourist site of the “eternal flame” in Azerbaijan. Actually, it is rather a hill than a mountain, with natural gas burning on its slope from ancient times. According to a legend, Yanar Dag flame was only noted when accidentally lit by a shepherd in the 1950s. There is no seepage of mud or liquid, which distinguishes it from the nearby mud volcanoes. Only a handful of fire mountains exist today in the world, and most are located in Azerbaijan.