The flames
Straight from the rock.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · indigoprime — CC BY 2.0 · Interfase — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chmee2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frokor — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Uviein — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chmee2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Interfase — CC BY-SA 3.0
A natural fire that never goes out, burning on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula north of Baku; its Azerbaijani name, «Yanar Dag», means burning mountain. Flames up to three metres high rise from a thin, porous layer of sandstone, fed by natural gas that seeps continuously from underground. The fire runs along a short rock scarp at the foot of the hill and burns day and night, summer and winter, even in rain and snow. Local accounts say a shepherd lit it by accident in the 1950s, while others say it has burned for thousands of years; fire in this region was sacred in the Zoroastrian religion. The site became a state historical and natural reserve in 2007 and was renovated between 2017 and 2019, adding a museum on the history of fire in Azerbaijan and an exhibition of ancient stones. It is part of why Azerbaijan is called «the Land of Fire». Tickets are 15 AZN for foreign visitors and 2 AZN for citizens, free for under-18s, with a combined ticket with the Ateshgah fire temple at 25 AZN; it opens daily from 10 am to 7 pm, per the reserve's official website. Sunset is the best time, when the fire glows against the dark.
Straight from the rock.
The Land of Fire's story.
The fire glowing at dusk.
Absheron Peninsula, about twenty-five kilometres north of central Baku
Yes; it is fed by natural gas seeping from underground, so it burns day and night, even in rain and snow.