Sasanian Palace of Sarvestan

🕰️When was it built?

Most researchers date the building to the Sasanian era and attribute it to Bahram V, though views differ on the exact date. Study and mapping of it began in the 19th century, and Flandin, Coste and Dieulafoy were among those who recorded and studied it.

🏛️What was it built for?

The building's exact use is not certain either. Some have seen it as a reception palace or a royal retreat and hunting lodge, and some researchers have suggested it was a fire temple. Its halls and rooms were built in different sizes and directions, and not everything matches on both sides.

👀What you will see

• The domed central hall and the iwans that connect it to the rooms and spaces around it.
• Squinches, the in-between parts that made it possible to set a round dome over the space below.
• Narrow rooms with barrel vaults on both sides of the building, which do not face each other.
• Columns inside the rooms, used to help hold up the roof.
• The steps of the north iwan, which connect the building to the grounds outside.

💡Something interesting

On her journey, Dieulafoy drew more accurate plans than earlier ones and took photographs of the palace. These photos are among the oldest pictures of the building and are valuable for knowing how it looked in the 19th century.

🎒Good to know before you go