Izadkhast Castle

🕰️When was it built?

The castle's architecture goes back to the Sasanian era and pre-Islamic times, and it was used in later periods too. The chahartaqi inside the castle was turned into a mosque after Islam. The castle complex itself was added to the National Heritage List in 2003 as number 9800, and the chahartaqi has a separate listing.

🏛️What was it built for?

The castle was both a place to live and a defensive refuge. The rock has a sheer drop on three sides, and the main way in was from the south. Lack of space meant the houses had no courtyards of their own, and the roof of a lower floor served as the courtyard of the floor above.

👀What you will see

• The sedimentary rock under the castle drops away on three sides in cliffs about 6 to 15 metres high.
• In the remains of the castle's fabric, small houses were built along tight lanes, with the main path running the length of the complex.
• In the houses by the wall, traces remain of balconies made by extending the roof timbers outwards.
• The chahartaqi inside the castle survives from the Sasanian era, and signs of the first building can be seen in the part turned into a mosque.

💡Something interesting

Photographs from the Qajar era, including those of Antoin Sevruguin, show an older form of the castle. Some of the buildings seen in those photos are gone, and what remains no longer has the intact fabric of the past.

🎒Good to know before you go