In the 13th century Marco Polo mentioned numerous natural-gas flames spurting spontaneously from the Abşeron Peninsula. The only one burning today is Yanar Dağ, a 10m-long sliver of heat-blackened hillside where tongues of fire have been licking away since being accidentally ignited by a shepherd’s cigarette back in the 1950s. It’s best viewed at dusk.
A rubbish-disposal plant looms nearby and there are no ‘facilities’ but the site remains one of the Abşeron’s stranger and more compulsive curiosities. Bus 217 (30q, 40 minutes) from Koroǧlu metro station and bus 147 (30q, 30 minutes) from Azadliq metro station both terminate opposite the site.
