Historic City of Bishapur

🕰️When was it built?

Shapur I ordered Bishapur built in the 3rd century AD, after his victory over the Romans, and Apasay of Harran was its architect. It became one of the Sasanian capitals. The city was added to the National Heritage List in 1931 and inscribed as World Heritage in 2018 together with the Sasanian sites of Fars.

🏛️What was it built for?

Bishapur was both a city to live in and a centre of government. Its main north–south and east–west streets crossed at right angles. Palaces and ceremonial buildings formed part of the city, and the Anahita Temple was built for rituals connected with water.

👀What you will see

• The Anahita Temple is built of stones without mortar, held with iron clamps, and lies about six metres below the ground around it.
• On the north side of the temple, two bull figures survive among its decorations and symbols.
• The ceremonial hall had four iwans facing each other, and its walls were covered with decorative niches.
• The Mosaic Iwan of Bishapur had a floor of coloured stones showing people and plants, and looked onto a rectangular courtyard.

💡Something interesting

Setting the Anahita Temple lower was deliberate, so that water from the Shapur River could flow into it. Water-dividing stones and narrow channels shared the water out among the passages and the central court, so the water's course is part of the temple's architecture too.

🎒Good to know before you go