Baku Flame Towers

The Flame Towers rise on the hill above Baku's old city, three tapering glass structures whose shape references the country's fire heritage. Their real trick is the skin: the facades are covered in LED panels that make the whole building a screen, and after dark the towers cycle through animations - flames climbing the length of them, water appearing to pour down, and the Azerbaijani flag waving across all three. Seen from the seaside boulevard or the old city walls below, the display has become the city's defining modern image, and the hill they stand on also holds Highland Park with the best panorama over the Caspian.

History

The three towers, costing an estimated 350 million dollars, were built from 2007 and completed in 2012, designed by the architects HOK with DIA Holdings as design-build contractor and Hill International managing the project. Their flame shape refers to the country's name of Land of Fire, rooted in the natural gas fires of places such as the Ateshgah of Baku and Yanar Dag, which Zoroastrians held sacred (Wikipedia, Flame Towers).

The main sights

• The evening LED display - flames, water and flag animations on the towers.
• Highland Park - the hilltop viewpoint over the bay and old city.
• The funicular - the short ride up the hill from the boulevard.
• Baku's boulevard - the long seafront promenade below with tower views.

When to go

Any time of year; the display runs nightly after dark. Winter evenings come early, so the show starts sooner. Summer nights on the boulevard are the pleasant hour. The funicular has limited operating hours and closes for maintenance periods.

Practical notes

The towers are a hotel, apartments and offices rather than a visitor attraction - there is no public observation deck, so viewing means looking at them rather than from them. The best angles are from Highland Park, the old city walls and the boulevard. Photographers should note the LED display cycles with pauses, so allow ten minutes to catch the full sequence.

Nearby

The Old City walls and Maiden Tower, the Heydar Aliyev Center and the Caspian boulevard.

Key facts