Case file · Anomaly hotspot
Yanar Dag, the burning mountain
On the Absheron peninsula near Baku, a hillside has burned continuously since it was reportedly set alight by accident in the 1950s, with flames up to three metres leaping from the sandstone.
1950 CE · 40.50, 49.89 · status: explained
The account
Natural gas seeps through the rock and burns even in rain and snow. Such fires gave the region its ancient fame for fire-worship (see the Ateshgah) and Marco Polo and other travellers wrote of Baku's oil and fire. Yanar Dag is now a state reserve.
Connections in the atlas
- The eternal fires of Absheron