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Mount Chimaera

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A view of the flaming stones at Yanartaş in Turkey, a natural wonder where natural gas causes fires to burn continuously.

A Mountain That Glows

Mount Chimaera is a very old and famous place from ancient Lycia. People long ago saw fires that burned all the time on this mountain. Today, we think this place is called Yanartaş in Turkey.

At Yanartaş, special gases like hydrogen come out of the rocks. These gases can catch fire and make little flames. This is why the old stories talked about fires that never went out.

Many writers from a long time ago wrote about Mount Chimaera. They told stories of a mountain that could breathe fire, just like some other famous places such as Etna in Sicily and Vesuvius in Campania. Today, people visit Yanartaş and see the glowing fires for themselves.

Images

Natural gas fires burning continuously at the Yanartaş site in Çıralı, Turkey.

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This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Mount Chimaera, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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