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Firuzabad (1) |
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| Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius. | ||
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The ruins of the Sasaniab
city of Ardašir Khureh ("fame of Ardašir) or, to use its modern
name, Firuzabad, can be seen on two locations.
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Qalah-e Dokhtar means "castle of the daughter", after a daughter of its builder, the Sasanian king Ardašir I (224-241). However, the word dokhtar also expresses the wish that the construction remains pure and "intact" like a virgin. It is built on a steep rock near a river and contains barracks and a palace-like mansion. As the photo shows, there are three levels: at the right-hand side you can discern the gate; after climbing stairs, one would reach a courtyard surrounded by rooms, and finally, at the left-hand side of this picture, you reached the representative rooms of the king. | |
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A close-up of the castle, seen from the north. The palace consists of a large open hall (iwan) and a dome that has survived to the present day. Here you see it on a satellite photo. | |
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The city of Ardašir is more to the south, near modern Firuzabad. Like many cities from the Parthian age, it was designed like a large wheel and was surrounded by two walls. The outer wall is visible on this picture. In the distance, you can see the tower that is like the axis of the wheel. | |
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The foundation of the city caused some alarm with Ardašir's Parthian overlord, king Artabanus V, who decided to subdue the Persians again. However, he was defeated (224) and Ardašir made Persia independent. This is a close-up of the second wall and the tower, which locally known as the minar (minaret). In fact, this is all there is: two destroyed walls and a tower. | |
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The minar again. It is more than thirty meters high and its function is not known. Here, the four main streets of the city came together. The inner wall is about 450 meters from the center; the outer wall is much wider. Hardly any buildings have been excavated, partly because they were made of limestone and similar, perishable material; partly because the site has not received as much attention as, for example, the Sasanian city of Bishapur. The site is therefore hard to recognize as an archaeologically important location; there are not even sherds. However, from outer space, you can see the circle perfectly: go here. | |
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These stones are the only remains of a monumental building, which may
or may not have been a shrine for fire worship. It is not far from the
minar, but no one knows to what kind of structure they belonged to.
Just a bit north of the city was Ardašir's palace. |
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