Minar of Gur (Terbal), Firuzabad

🕰️When was it built?

The tower stands in the centre of the circular city that Ardashir I of the Sasanians built. The government quarter lay in the city's inner circle, with the tower in its middle. It was added to the National Heritage List on 20 December 1937 as number 289.

🏛️What was it built for?

Why the tower was built is not clear. A symbol of the king's power, a line of sight to the Tangab fortifications and a help in laying out the city plan are among the ideas put forward. Another theory sees it as part of a water-supply system; none of these can be called its certain use.

👀What you will see

• The square stone core, about 9 metres on each side, left from the main body of the tower.
• Its materials of hard stone and mortar, unlike the mud-brick building of most structures in Gur.
• The tower's place at the centre of the city's circular plan, the midpoint of Ardashir's city design.
• The Takht-neshin building near the tower, also built of stone and mortar and among the remains of Gur.

💡Something interesting

In the past some researchers took the tower for a ziggurat or a fire temple. Later study brought other views. Even the old names given in books are not always clear, as writers may have confused the tower with the Takht-neshin nearby.

🎒Good to know before you go

• Look at how the stones and mortar of the tower's core are joined; most other buildings in Gur were mud brick.