Zardan Caravanserai

🕰️When was it built?

The present form is attributed to the Safavid era, while pottery found in the walls and around the site points to Seljuk and Ilkhanid predecessors. Parts were added in the Qajar period. The caravanserai was nationally listed in 2001, under number 4456.

🏛️What was it built for?

The caravanserai stood on a branch of the Silk Road used by merchants travelling from Herat and Farah towards central Iran. Rooms around the courtyard housed travellers, with other spaces for pack animals. This arrangement sheltered people, goods and animals within one complex.

👀What you will see

• The western entrance projects beyond the wall and leads through a vestibule to the central courtyard.
• Pointed arches and brick domes have corner transitions where the brickwork provides both support and decoration.
• Alternating horizontal and vertical brick patterns decorate the surviving entrance front, adding variety to the plain brick facade.
• Towers stand at the outer corners, with remains of the eastern tower, much of which was lost in earthquakes.
• Traces of a water-storage pool to the right of the entrance reveal the water supply alongside the accommodation.

💡Something interesting

Four towers were added to the outer corners during the Qajar period, turning the caravanserai partly into a defensive fortress. They are more than decoration: they reflect changing needs and uses at this old stopping place.

Good to know before you go