The Mystery Of The Fire That Burns For 4,000 Years Does Not Go Out, What Has Created This Eternal Flame?

A fire that has burned continuously for 4,000 years and never goes out. Even on rainy, snowy and stormy days, it never stops burning. That's what's happening on a 10-meter-long hillside in Azerbaijan.

The site is named Yanar Dag – which means “burning ridge” – on Azerbaijan’s Absheron Peninsula. The fact that the flame burns continuously is a “side effect” of the country’s abundant natural gas reserves in this region.

Leakage to the surface is like fuel for a flame that burns forever. Yanar Dag is one of a number of spontaneous fires that have intrigued and frightened visitors to Azerbaijan for millennia.

Eternal flame on the slopes of Yanar Dag – Azerbaija

The Venetian explorer Marco Polo wrote of mysterious phenomena as he traveled through the country in the 13th century. “Silk Road” merchants also brought news of the fire as they traveled to the mountains. different lands.

Such eternal fires were not uncommon in Azerbaijan before, but since it hindered commercial gas extraction, most have since been extinguished. Yanar Dag is one of the few examples left and perhaps the most impressive.

For the ancient religion of the Zoroastrians, fire was the link between man and the supernatural world, and the means by which spiritual understanding and wisdom could be attained. It purifies, sustains life and is an important part of worship. But most of today’s visitors to Yanar Dag come for the spectacle rather than to satisfy their religious beliefs.

From time immemorial, the inhabitants of the Zoroastrians thought their god was here. Fire ceremonies at the site date back to the 10th century or earlier. The name Ateshgah comes from the Persian word meaning “house of fire”.

Fire in the “fire temple”

Another natural and eternal fire, which actually burned until 1969, was the fire in the temple of Ateshgah, but today the fire is supplied from Baku’s main gas supply and is only burned Lights up when visitors visit.