A traveller's reflection: Caucasus 2018: 13 Baku Tour, Azerbaijan

"Once people stop talking with you then they start talking about you..."

(Ateshgah, Fire Temple of Baku)

Day 13: 27 April 2018 (Friday)
Route: Baku day tour
Hotel: Atlas Hotel Baku, Azerbaijan

Today we visited other attractions around Baku.

We travelled 25 km to the north of Baku to visit one of the most popular attractions of Azerbaijan, Yanar Dag. Yanar Dag is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea. Flames jet into the air 3 metres from a thin, porous sandstone layer. The Yanar Dag flame burns fairly steadily, as it involves a steady seep of gas from the subsurface. As we had seen the ‘Gates of Hell’ gas crater in Darvazar, Turkministan, Yanar Dag is not as impressive in comparison. It is claimed that the Yanar Dag flame was only noted when accidentally lit by a shepherd in the 1950s.

(Yanar Dag on the Absheron Peninsula)

(A continuous burning hillside)

(Natural gas burning since 1950)

(At times the gas jets up 3 meters high)

(The villages and Caspian Sea from the hilltop)

The Baku Ateshgah often called the ‘Fire Temple of Baku’ is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani town, a suburb in Baku. Based on Persian and Indian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, Shikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship. 'Atash’ is the Persian word for fire. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle. The Baku Ateshgah was a pilgrimage and philosophical centre of Zoroastrians from North-western Indian Subcontinent, who were involved in trade with the Caspian area via the famous Grand Trunk Road.

(School children visiting the Fire Temple)

(The Fire Temple Complex)

(The layout map of the Fire Temple)

(Once a Zoroastrian pilgrimage site)

(Visiting the Museum of History)

(Fire worshiper's rituals)

(The Zoroastrian pilgrims)

(The sick elder resting place in the temple)

(Remnants of once dominant Hindu)

(Natural gas eternal flame around the temple)

(An ancient inscription referring to the Hindu God)

On the way back we stopped at the Signature Building of Heydar Aliyev Center is a building complex in Baku, designed by Iraqi- British architect Zaha Hadid and noted for its distinctive architecture and flowing, curved style that eschews sharp angles. The center is named after Heydar Aliyev, the first secretary of Soviet Azerbaijan, and president of Azerbaijan Republic from October 1993 to October 2003. There was a Photography of the World Exhibition being held outside the center.

(A symbol of modern Azerbaijan)

(Design of the Year Award)

(A photo shot at I love Baku)

(The open-air Photography and Art Exhibition)

(A group photo with the guides)

(A popular site for photography session)

(Red bright snails decorating the lawn)

We had lunch at Merkez Lahmachun Restaurant in down town Baku. After lunch we went to a shop to buy local sweets and baklava.

(Beef steak for lunch)

(The famous Azerbaijan baklava)

Our last visit for today was to Heydar Mosque covers a total area of 12,000 sq m and internal area of the building covers a total area of 4,200 sq m. The façade of the building decorated with special stones based on the Shirvan - Absheron architectural style. It has four 95 m-height minarets. It has 55 m main and 35 m second domes. Verses from Koran were written on the sides of the dome.