ХИНАЛУГСКИЙ МУЗЕЙ

The historical-ethnographic museum in Khinalug village is a museum that was established in 2001 by residents of the Khinalug village.

It is located in the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan. The Khinalug village is 2,300–2,500 meters above the sea level. It is known for its language, distinctive customs, and traditions.[citation needed] About two thousand people live in Khinalug at this time. Nearly the whole population is indigenous. Residents of Khinalug were fire worshippers until the Islamic belief. Fire is an object of a particular respect up to now. There is a source of natural gas in the western part of Khinalug, which is called Ateshgah.

Atashgah (atash-kadeh), a Zoroastrian fire temple with a natural flame, located ~5 km far from the village, at an altitude of ~ 3000 m above sea level, on the spur of the mountain Shahdag, at the foot of the Gizil-gaya rock. The temple was restored on the site of the former ruins by the efforts of the World Zoroastrian Organization and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan in 2016. It was listed in the “List of state-protected historical and cultural monuments of the Republic of Azerbaijan”, ID #4647.

The existence of Zoroastrian religious buildings in this part of the Caucasus are repeatedly mentioned by various authors.

The total area of the museum, consisting of two halls, is 160 square meters.A building, where the museum is located, is reminiscent of a historical castle. Works of Rahim Alkhas, the Azerbaijani poet, native of Khinalug village are exhibited at entrance of the museum.