Yanar Bulağ

Azerbaijan


Watch water burn at Arçivan village! What you see is a little drinking fountain beneath a concrete pergola, but the water that bubbles forth is made ‘flammable’ by partly dissolved methane. Bring your own matches – the flames blow out fairly rapidly and locals come to collect the water for drinking rather than for pyrotechnics.

The spring is 9km north of Astara beside the old road to Lənkəran. You'll need to pay a little extra for taxis to come this way as it is far quicker and easier for them to drive via the new highway.


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Nearby Azerbaijan attractions

1. Imam Ali Məscidi

16.83 MILES

Dating from 1876, this tile-roofed brick mosque is archetypal of the region with its coloured-glass windows set within large pointed arches. Its pair of…

2. Stalin's Prison

16.84 MILES

This sturdy brick-barrel tower once imprisoned Joseph Stalin during his early revolutionary days. However, there's no attempt to commemorate the fact and…

3. Bazaar

16.91 MILES

Lənkəran’s sprawling bazaar area is centred on an architecturally drab concrete hangar, but it’s loaded with colourful produce and equally colourful local…

4. History Museum

17.04 MILES

The distinctive if heavily restored mansion containing this museum was built in 1913 for the grandson of Talysh khan Mir Mustafa. It features some grave…

5. Heydar Əliyev Mərkəzi

17.04 MILES

Pop into this refreshingly air-conditioned centre to peruse the photographic exhibition on the life and times of the 'National Leader'. Or simply to cool…

6. Həzi Aslanov Statue

17.35 MILES

The figure standing proudly in front of the train station is local WWII hero Həzi Aslanov, whose plinth rises from a stylised concrete tank.

7. Fisherman's Beach

17.84 MILES

Lənkəran's grey-sand beaches aren't a big attraction if you want to swim and many are dotted with debris. Nonetheless, the coastal area around 1km north…

8. Centenarians Museum

28.86 MILES

This modest two-room museum celebrates the statistically high proportion of centenarians among Talysh mountain people. Most famous was Şirəli Müslümov …