1. Sights of Azerbaijan

2. Ateshgah, Absheron
Peninsula
 The unique Ateşgah Fire Temple is one of Azerbaijan’s
most remarkable sights. It stands on the site of a natural
gas vent that was sacred to Zoroastrians for centuries,
though this temple was actually built by 18th-century
Indian Shiva devotees. They lived in the surrounding
pentagonal caravanserai and performed extreme ascetic
practices such as lying on hot coals or carrying
unbearably heavy chains. Such eccentric behaviour is
depicted by a number of mannequins in the museum
section. But the temple’s centrepiece is the flaming stone
hearth with four stone side flues that also spit dragon
breath. At least when the caretaker bothers to turn on the
gas. The original natural vent has long been exhausted,
so today the flame comes courtesy of Baku’s main gas
supply.

4. Yanar Dag
Yanar Dag (translated as “Fire Mountain”), is an
ancient and visually stunning natural gas fire which
blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron
Peninsula, near Baku. Flames jet out into the air 10
feet (3.0 m) from a thin, porous sandstone layer.
Geologists have also called Yanar Dag one of the
“mud volcanoes” or “sedimentary volcanoes” or “gas –
oil volcanoes” as these are indicative of oil and gas
reserves concealed below land and sea in the Caspian
region and which Azerbaijan has the largest
concentration globally, though others exist in Turkey,
Turkmenistan and elsewhere. The mud volcanoes are
unpredictable and their formation is not fully
understood.

5. Mud volcanoes
In 10 km south of Qobustan there are
an astonishingly weird collection of
baby mud volcanoes . Here a whole
family of ‘geologically flatulent’ little
conical mounds gurgle, ooze, spit and
sometimes erupt with thick, cold, grey
mud. It’s more entertaining than it
sounds – even when activity is very
modest you get the eerie feeling that
the volcanoes are alive. And normally
the place is delightfully peaceful, if not
completely deserted.

6. Eddi Gumbez
Eddi Gumbez Mausoleum or “Seven
Domes”located in Shemakha, former capital
of Shirvanshahs. This is how people named
Shamakhi tomb of Shirvan Dynasty rulers.
There the notorious representatives of
Shirvan Dynasty were buried. The
monument’s name is defined be the number
of gravestones in the crypt. Today the
gravestones look like half-destroyed stone
domes as if grown directly from under the
ground in the middle of deserted graveyard.
Therefore the atmosphere of this district
seems a little mysterious.

7. The Imamzade Complex
The Imamzade Complex in Ganja is situated
near the city of Ganja in the old cemetery. The
dome of the central building is covered with
ornamental blue tiles. It is thought that a
building was first erected here in the 8th
century. After this the complex was repeatedly
rebuilt, most recently in 1878.

8. Presentation
prepareded by George Haddad