In a raised gully near Digah village, a 10m-long strip of 'eternal' fire licks gently at at the foot of Fire Mountain. The name is misleading for what is actually a very modest hillock, but an inspired 2019 makeover has parlayed this minor curiosity into a satisfying tourist attraction by adding an exhibition space, children's activities, a viewpoint and explanations of some ancient stones nearby.
In the 13th century Marco Polo mentioned numerous natural-gas flames spurting spontaneously from the Abşeron Peninsula, but today this is the only one still burning. Some say that the flames have gone unquenched for millennia, others that the naturally escaping gas was accidentally ignited by a shepherd’s discarded cigarette back in the 1950s.
There are several other curiosities here, including a WWI Ottoman trench on the plateau above, but you'll need a guide (AZN6) to make sense of them.
Several regional tours include Fire Mountain. By public transport, take either bus 217 (0.50AZN, 40 minutes) from Koroǧlu metro station or bus 147 (0.50AZN, 30 minutes) from Azadliq Prospekti metro station. Both terminate opposite the site.
