Ateshgah – Zoroastrian Fire Temple

The History of Ateshgah

The northernmost Zoroastrian temple takes its name from the Persian word “Ateshgah,” with “atesh” meaning “fire” and “gah” meaning “place.” Here, fires would be lit using wood collected from orchards, so pleasant odors from the embers would waft around.

Ateshgah is a cube-shaped brick building, with its dome having fallen in. Its corners were once covered with pilasters, and its walls decorated with dual arches. Meanwhile, the interior walls have niches with peaked arches.

From the 1720s, the temple was used as a mosque, and later as a storehouse and then a living space. From 2007 to 2009, when ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites) rehabilitated Tbilisi’s Betlemi district, Ateshgah was restored and equipped with a temporary roof.