At a place called Yanar Dağ, which translates to "Burning Mountain," a wall of fire has been blazing nonstop for centuries.

Fueled by natural gas seeping through porous sandstone, the flames erupt from the hillside and have been doing so—day and night—for as long as anyone can remember.

Unlike campfires or torches, Yanar Dağ doesn’t need to be lit or fed. Its flames ignite spontaneously where the gas meets open air, creating a continuous blaze that flickers 10 to 15 feet high along a 30-foot stretch of hillside.

Travelers in the 13th century—including Venetian explorer Marco Polo—wrote about this otherworldly fire, and locals have long believed it to be sacred.

Yanar Dağ isn’t the only naturally burning spot in Azerbaijan. The country sits atop massive natural gas reserves, and for thousands of years, spontaneous flames have appeared around the region.

These natural fire phenomena shaped religious beliefs: the ancient Zoroastrians, who worshipped fire as a symbol of purity, built temples near these flames.

The name “Azerbaijan” itself is thought to be rooted in Persian words meaning “Guardian of Fire.”

Today, Yanar Dağ is a protected site, drawing curious travelers and scientists alike.

It’s not a massive inferno, but standing before a living flame that predates your entire family tree is humbling.

The surrounding area now includes a small visitor center and museum—but the fire itself remains unchanged, dancing against the rock like it has for centuries.

Eternal flames—fires that seem to burn endlessly without human intervention—exist in a few other places around the world.

In the United States, a small flame flickers behind a waterfall in New York’s Eternal Flame Falls, fueled by a natural gas pocket.

In Iraq, the Baba Gurgur flame near Kirkuk has been burning for thousands of years and may be one of the oldest known natural fires.

Even in Canada’s Banff National Park, a naturally burning flame marks the site of a gas seepage. While each varies in size and intensity, they all share the same ancient, elemental magic—fire rising uninvited from the earth itself.

Until next time,

Emails From Afar Team

While this newsletter brings you the magic, the strange, and the downright odd by email, Letters From Afar takes it a step further—with real letters sent through the mail.

Our snail mail subscription whisks you away to the world’s most exciting destinations, one handwritten letter at a time. Written from the perspective of an explorer from the past, each letter invites you to journey to distant lands through the most old-world form of communication: a letter delivered to your door.