Atashgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple

Often called the "Fire Temple of Baku", Atashgarh Temple is a castle-like religious temple in the town of Surakhani, 30km from Baku in Azerbaijan. “Atash” is the Persian word for fire. Built as a monastery for Zoroastrian monks and Indian devotees to Shiva.

This unique castle-like temple was in ancient times very symbolic to the Zoroastrians, who worshipped fire, due to its eternal and undistinguishable flame. The eternal flame is the result of burning natural gas from the earth’s crust. While the temple has many small burning fires, it stopped burning in 19th century and is now lit by gas supplied from the nearby city.

There complex existed of large worshipping areas and rooms with statues and pictures depicting the way they lived. This temple was turned into a museum in 1975.