Suraxanı (town) in the context of "Fire Temple of Baku"

The Ateshgah of Baku (Azerbaijani: Atəşgah), often called the "Fire Temple of Baku", is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhany town (in Surakhany raion), a suburb in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Based on Iranian and Indian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship. "Ātash" (آتش/Atəş) is the Persian and Azerbaijani word for fire. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably due to the decline of the Indian population in the area and the establishment of petroleum plants in Surakhany. The natural eternal flame was extinguished in 1969, after nearly a century of petroleum and gas extraction in the area, and is now maintained using a piped gas supply.