Half-Day Ateshgah Fire Temple & Yanardag-Fire Mountain Tour

Discover two main historic, ancient places - Yanardag and mystic Ateshgah on this 4-hour tour from Baku. Learn the stories and historical facts from your local tour guide in ancient areas of Baku.

The Ateshgah of Baku often called the "Fire Temple of Baku", is a castle-like religious temple and based on Iranian and Indian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship. This Fire Temple was a pilgrimage and philosophical centre of Zoroastrians from Northwestern Indian subcontinent, who were involved in trade with the Caspian area via the famous "Grand Trunk Road". The four holy elements of their belief were: ateshi (fire), badi (air), abi (water), and heki (earth). The temple ceased to be a place of worship after 1883 with the installation of petroleum plants (industry) at Surakhany. The complex was turned into a museum in 1975. The annual number of visitors to the museum is 15,000.

Yanardag is located in the village of Mammadli on the Absheron Peninsula, around 27 km from Baku. The main attraction of Yanardag, which literally means “burning mountain”, is a spectacular hill with a constantly burning wall of flames. Flames jet into the air 3 meters (9.8 ft) from a thin, porous sandstone layer. Unlike mud volcanoes, the Yanardagh flame burns fairly steadily, as it involves a steady seep of gas from the subsurface.