The World’s Longest-Burning Manmade Fire Has Remained Alight Since 470 AD
In the heart of central Iran, a small fire has done something no power plant ever could: it’s kept burning for more than 1,500 years. Inside the Yazd Atash Behram temple, this sacred flame has been carefully tended since 470 AD, dating back to the Sassanid Empire. Through dynasties, invasions, and modern change, the fire has never gone out. It’s a living symbol of devotion and endurance, glowing quietly while the world around it has transformed.
A Spark from the Sassanids
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Spekim
Back when the Sassanid kings ruled Persia, the sacred fire that now resides in Yazd first went alight, starting at a fire temple in Pars Karyan, located in Larestan. From there, it traveled to Aqda for about 700 years before being moved again around 1173 to the temple at Nahid-e Pars near Ardakan, where it stayed for roughly 300 years. In 1934, the current building housing it was constructed in the city of Yazd.
It’s worth noting that this flame isn’t just “still on” unintentionally. It’s the highest grade of Zoroastrian temple fire, known as an Atash Behram, or “Fire of Victory.” These fires are consecrated through the painstaking gathering of sixteen different fire types (lightning, a cremation pyre, hearth fires, tradesmen’s furnaces, etc.). It certainly adds an extra layer of ritual and meaning to their survival.
Keeping Tradition Alive
In a time when most things change overnight, a flame that has burned for more than 1,500 years carries a rare kind of weight. It stands for devotion passed from one generation to the next. The fire has been moved, protected, and watched over through centuries of upheaval, yet the care behind it has stayed constant.
At the Yazd Atash Behram temple, the sacred flame glows inside a bronze brazier, visible through amber-tinted glass. Only Zoroastrians are allowed inside the inner sanctum, while others observe from beyond the barrier. A priest known as a Hirob tends to it each day, adding dry wood and offering prayers. That simple act, repeated every day for more than a millennium, keeps both the flame and the faith alive.
What It Tells Us About Time and Tradition
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Wojciech Kocot
When something lasts this long, it starts asking bigger questions. What does it mean to maintain a ritual, a flame, a belief across generations? The flame at Yazd shows how humans don’t just build for now; they build for forever (or close to it). That kind of endurance invites us to consider our own work, legacy, and what we’re really keeping alive.
Rather than serving as a relic in a museum, this fire is still active. It still burns. And it still asks something of its caretakers and community. It may not be flashy, but the fact that it still exists and remains tended is enough to amaze anyone. And just possibly, book a trip to see it firsthand!