ATESHGAH
The present fire temple of Atishgah , located 35 km from the capital, Baku, was built by Zoroastrian Indian merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in a place where natural gas seeping to the surface of the earth was burning. The Ateshgah Temple holds at its core one of the ancient religions of the Azerbaijani people, which is the worship of fire. In Zoroastrian legends, the place of fire is a sacred place, and fire used to come out of it from 7 places, and inscriptions return to it. During his reign, Baku was a cultural and religious center for the Indian subcontinent, who were trade partners for the people of the Caspian Sea region, and they used to pass a lot on this region. The place has been turned into a museum since 1975, after years of building gas and oil stations, and it is visited annually by 15,000 people. The temple was a place of worship until the year 1880. By the decision of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 19, 2007 the State Architectural Historical Reserve - Ateshgah Temple was established. It was nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998, and declared an important historical monument in Azerbaijan in 2007.
The present fire temple of Ateshgah , located 35 km from the capital, Baku, was built by Zoroastrian Indian merchants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in a place where natural gas seeping to the surface of the earth was burning. The Ateshgah Temple holds at its core one of the ancient religions of the Azerbaijani people, which is the worship of fire. In Zoroastrian legends, the place of fire is a sacred place, and fire used to come out of it from 7 places, and inscriptions return to it. During his reign, Baku was a cultural and religious center for the Indian subcontinent, who were trade partners for the people of the Caspian Sea region, and they used to pass a lot on this region. The place has been turned into a museum since 1975, after years of building gas and oil stations, and it is visited annually by 15,000 people. The temple was a place of worship until the year 1880. By the decision of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 19, 2007 the State Architectural Historical Reserve - Ateshgah Temple was established. It was nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998, and declared an important historical monument in Azerbaijan in 2007.
