A PLACE WHERE ETERNAL FLAMES STILL EXISTS.
Yes, it's not a fiction the place really does exist it’s called AZERBAIJAN well known as THE LAND OF FIRE. Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country.
WHY IT HAS BEEN NAMED AS LAND OF FIRE?
It’s mainly due to the fire that got ignited unfortunately and thereby burning ever since.
“This fire has burned 4,000 years and never stopped,” says Aliyeva Rahila. “Even the rain coming here, snow, wind — it never stops burning.” — — by CNN article.
The eternal flames are observed at two main locations in Azerbaijan
YANAR DAG (THE BURNING MOUNTAINSIDE)
This is Yanar Dag — meaning “burning mountainside” — on Azerbaijan’s Absheron Peninsula unlike mud volcanos, the yanar dag flame burns steadily.
it is claimed that the Yanar Dag flame was only noted when accidentally lit by a shepherd in the 1950s
Scientists say “The flames emanate from vents in sandstone formations and rise to a height of 10 metres (33 ft) at the base of a 10-metre-wide (33 ft) scarp below a hillside”.
Even the surface of streams near Yanar Dag fire can be ignited with a match. These streams, which otherwise appear calm, are known as Yanar Bulaq: “burning springs.”
A similar fire was seen at the famous site called as the fire temple near Baku Azerbaijan.
ATESHGAH OF BAKU (THE FIRE TEMPLE OF BAKU)
The Baku Ateshgah often called “THE FIRE TEMPLE OF BAKU” is a castle-like religious temple in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Based on Persian and Indian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, and Zoroastrian place of worship.
Some commentators have theorized that Baku’s Indian community may have been responsible for the construction or renovation of the Ateshgah.
CNN Report says “Since ancient times, they think that [their] God is here,” says our guide, as we enter the pentagonal complex which was built in the 17th and 18th centuries by Indian settlers in Baku.
Fire rituals at this site date back to the 10th century or earlier. The name Ateshgah comes from the Persian for “home of fire” and the centerpiece of the complex is a cupola-topped altar shrine.
THE CAUSE OF EXTERNALS FLAMES IN AZERBAIJAN
The entire Azerbaijan area is formed by the volcanic-tectonic processes in the existing oil and gas sedimentary layers in the depths of the earth.
The burning mountainside(yanar dag) and the fire temple of Baku(Ateshgah of Baku) were formed as a result of the ignition of natural gas(CH4) flows to the surface through cracks.
In common words, I could say the leakage of methane gas(microseepage of methane) through the sedimentary rocks (gas vent) is the cause for the everlasting fire at the burning mountainside, and the fire temple of Baku
Geologists say Microseepage CH4 flux is generally on the order of hundreds of milligrams per square meter per day, even far away from the active centers. The CH4 flux near the everlasting fires (on the order of 105 mg·m-2·d-1) represents the highest natural CH4 emission from soil ever measured.
Unfortunately, The natural flow of methane at Ateshgah of Baku was observed until 1969 and the flames seen there now are fed from a gas main for touristic effect — whereas those at Yanar Dag are still entirely natural.
Apart from the natural gas vents, Azerbaijan has the most mud volcanoes of any country, spread broadly across the country. 350 of the 800 volcanoes of the world are in the Azerbaijani Republic.
Based on the history and the natural monuments seen at Azerbaijan the place got named as the land of fire.
Few videos to know more about yanar dag and the fire temple of Baku.
