Azerbaijan has long been known as the Land of Fire, due the burning of natural oil and gases under the earth,said to have inspired the fire worshippers who later founded the Zoroastrian faith. In the days of old these burning gas outlets were thought to contain evidence of a divine being, and ancient temples were built upon the sites. One of these temples is Ateshgah, located in the suburb of Surakhany in just outside of Baku.
Ateshgah is said to date from the 17th century, and the temple complex is built in the shape of a hexagon. There is a fire alter in the centre, although the natural gases that led to the original construction of the temple have now been exhausted and the fire is produced via a gas pipeline from Baku.
