The Yanardag State Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve was created on the 2nd May 2007 according to a decree issued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to resolution No. 255 of the Cabinet of Ministers, dated 7th June 2018, the site was put under the control of the State Tourism Agency.
The Yanardag State Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve opened on June 12 after the overhaul. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony.
Yanardag is located in the village of Mammadli on the Absheron Peninsula, around 27 km from Baku. The area of the reserve spans 64,55 ha. The main attraction of Yanardag, which literally means “burning mountain”, is a spectacular hill with a constantly burning wall of flames. Thanks to tectonic shifts and volcanic material below the earth’s surface, natural gas leaks from the rocks. The Italian trader and traveler Marco Polo even mentioned the flames during his travels to Baku and its surroundings, but most probably the fire has been burning for over more years at Yanardag.
On the opposite side of "Yanardag" another hill used to burn for thousands of years, but as its natural gas leakage moved on due to tectonic shifts the three flames ceased to burn a few hundred years ago. Nevertheless, this fire is believed to have inspired the symbol of Baku which features three flames and the sea. Around the Absheron Peninsula more of these burning rocks used to exist and were used as sacred places by Zoroastrians in ancient times. The larger Yanardag reserve offers more heritage sites such as an active mud volcano, a natural sulfur spring, the Girmaki valley and others which can be visited with one of our tourist guides.