Vali Castle

🕰️When was it built?

Gholamreza Khan Feyli ordered the castle built in 1326 AH (1908). The neighbourhood was then called Hosseinabad-e Feyli or Deh Bala. The building was put up on a low hill, was later restored, and was added to the National Heritage List on 9 June 1997.

🏛️What was it built for?

The vali chose this building as his home for the summer. The Bibi spring supplied the castle's water, which reached the central courtyard through clay pipes. Today, instead of a residence, the castle is where the anthropology museum is shown.

👀What you will see

• The shahneshin hall on the north side, larger than the other rooms, with a small pool in the middle.
• The hall's pool, decorated with coloured tiles in the restoration and once lined with marble.
• Turquoise latticed brick railings and latticed windows with coloured glass on the south terraces.
• The round columns and patterned capitals of the iwan, decorated with arches and karbandi.
• The courtyard in front of the castle, with a rectangular pool and tall old pine trees, part of the complex's open space.

💡Something interesting

When it was built, the castle stood in open ground, but as Ilam grew, houses and offices were built around it. Today a building that was once outside the crowded town stands in the middle of the city.

🎒Good to know before you go