Baku: Gobustan, Mud Volcanoes, Ateshgah, and Yanardag Tour｜Azerbaijan

Discover the history of Azerbaijan on a tour of the Absheron Peninsula. See rock paintings of primitive people, learn about the useful properties of mud volcanoes, and find out more about the connection of this region with fire and Zoroastrianism.

Start your tour with a visit to the interactive museum in Gobustan. Learn about the large number of petroglyphs, the natural environment of Gobustan, the population, cultural development, and archaeological expeditions in the area.

Thanks to touch screens and special 3D panoramas, see how people lived 5,000-20,000 years ago. In the rooms of the museum, find a wide variety of historical exhibits dating from about the 4th-2nd millennium BC.

Next, head to the Gobustan rocks, where you can see more than 6,000 rock drawings and caves. Discover petroglyphs from different eras, discovered by scientists in the 1930s, to learn more about ancient people, their worldview, customs, and traditions.

Continue to the mud volcanoes, which appeared on the territory of present-day Azerbaijan 25 million years ago. Azerbaijan ranks first in the world in the number of mud volcanoes, with 350 of the 800 volcanoes in the country.

The eruptions of volcanoes are used as raw material in the chemical and construction industries, as well as in pharmacology. Nowadays, volcanic clay and mud are used in the treatment of diseases related to the nervous system, skin, and rheumatism.

Climb the active mud volcanoes and view the craters up close. After the first part of the tour, take a break for lunch in the city center.

Next, visit the Fire Temple of Baku, which was used as a Hindu and Zoroastrian place of worship. The first mention of this temple dates back to the 7th century AD. See many cells of fire worshippers with a large number of historical exhibits found during archaeological excavations.

Finally, visit Yanardag, a natural gas flame that has been constantly burning since ancient times on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku. The meaning of the phrase “Yanardag” is “Burning Mountain.”

To this day, pilgrims from Iran and India come here to visit the sacred burning mountain. At the end of the tour, be dropped off at the Fountain Square.