Yanar Dag (Burning mountain)

''Yanar Dag'' (Burning mountain)

Yanardag is an unknown natural monument on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in the village of Mahammadi, at the foot of a mountain, ignited by a natural gas leak.It is located 27 km from the city center of Baku and about 2 km from the village center, on the left side of the Mohammadi-Digah highway.





Let us learn more about this historic natural wonder.
Combustion in the area, rock washing in existing oil and gas sediments in the depths of the earth, tectonic layers, as well as eruptions of mud volcanoes - in short, as a result of volcanic-tectonic processes, ignition of natural gas flows through cracks. Sometimes the height of the flame on the volcano reaches 10-15 meters. The information that the combustion process here dates back to ancient times, and it's confirmed by both geological research and historical sources in the area, and the history of these combustions can be traced back to prehistoric times.

There were three burning hills in the opposite direction of the volcano. Now those hills are gone. The three flaming tongues and the sea symbol, which are considered to be the symbols of Baku, were also adopted with reference to the existence of the Volcano. Many sources covering the early Middle Ages provide interesting information about the year of the burning of lands and even burning water on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku, and the area was named Atesh-i Baquan. One of the first and almost the first sources to provide information about the existence of "eternal fires" in the area and their burning day and night is the Byzantine Panian Prisk. Prisk describes the "fire rising from the underwater rock" when describing Baku in Caucasian Albania in the early 5th century.

"There are underwater rocks on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where fire comes out day and night. The light of the fire makes it more charming in the moonlight, making the surrounding coastal lands visible in its light. In addition, al-Masudi's Muruj az-Zahab and Mawhin-al-Jawhar, al-Farisi al-Istakhri's Kitab al-Masalik wal-Mamalik (The Book of Roads and Countries), al-Muqaddas's book on the burning lands here. “Ahsan at-taqasim fi marifat al-aqalim” (“The best division for studying my climates”), “Tuhfat al-albab and nuhbat al-ajab” by Abu Hamid al-Andalusi al-Garnati (“Contribution to the minds and selection of miracles”) , Yaqut Ibn Abdullah ar-Rumi al-Hamawi's (1179-1229) "Mujam al-Buldan" ("Dictionary of Countries"), Abu Dulaf al-Yanbui's "Treatises", "Hudud al-Alam" of the tenth century is unknown. Muhammad ibn Nadjib Bekrana's 13th-century Jahan-nama, a 13th-century book by an unknown geographer, and a 14th-century historian, Hamdullah Qazvini's Nuzhat al-Qu lub ”, in the information of the geographer Ibn-Ayas, who lived in the 15th century, and so on.

By the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated May 2, 2007, the territory of "Yanar Dag" was declared a state historical-cultural and nature reserve. The territory of the reserve is 64.55 hectares. This area includes the Wolf's Nest, two thousand-year-old cemeteries and an ancient mosque, Gotursu spring, Ali Dashi, Kardashi, Girmaki valley and Yanardag.