Baku: Gobustan, Ateshgah and Yanardag｜Azerbaijan

Discover the ancient art of the Gobustan Petroglyphs, explore the Ateshgah Fire Temple, and see the burning mountain of Yanardag on this full-day tour from Baku.

Start your day with a visit to the Gobustan Petroglyphs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Learn about the ancient sites of primitive people who left behind a lot of rock paintings, or petroglyphs. These primitive monuments of art reflect the culture, economy, worldview, customs, and traditions of ancient people.

Afterward, visit the mud volcanoes of Gobustan. By the number of mud volcanoes, Azerbaijan ranks first in the world. There are 350 of them (about 800 in the world). Mud volcanoes are active all year round.

Next, visit the Ateshgah Fire Temple, a temple of fire in Azerbaijan, on the Absheron Peninsula, 30 km from the center of Baku, on the outskirts of the Surakhani village. At various times, the temple was revered by Zoroastrians, Hindus, and Sikhs.

The architectural complex is in the form of a hexagon with a jagged exterior wall and an entrance portal. In the center of the courtyard rises the quadrangular main temple, the altar, which was a place of pilgrimage for fire worshipers.

The first buildings of the temple Ateshgah belong to the II and III centuries. At that time, Zoroastrianism spread in Azerbaijan, in connection with which Zoroastrian temples were built in the regions. The temple Ateshgah acted until the VII century. However, in the XVI-XVII centuries, it received a second life.

Finally, visit Yanardag, one of the most amazing natural attractions of the Absheron Peninsula. It is a flaming mountainside, which cannot be extinguished either by rain or covered with sand, which has been burning for several millennia.

Not so long ago, Yanardag was given the status of a historical reserve of Azerbaijan, and the mountainside is on the protection of the state.