Tepe Mil, Rey

🕰️When was it built?

The remains are attributed to the Sasanian period, but who built it is not certain. A link with Bahram Gur has been suggested. In modern times the site has been excavated several times, including by Erich Schmidt in the twentieth century.

🏛️What was it built for?

The building is known as a fire temple, although descriptions of the site also mention a palace. The original plan had a columned hall divided into three aisles by two rows of square columns. Parts of this structure and the passages beneath it survive today.

👀What you will see

• The two tall parts of the building on the hill give the site its name, mil, meaning pillar, and its distinctive outline.
• The hill rises about eighteen metres above the plain, with lower mounds scattered around it.
• The remains of the hall run east to west, and the main iwan was on the east side.
• Below, a narrow corridor ran the length of the hall, with another passage meeting it at right angles on the west.
• Stone, sarooj mortar, mud brick and clay were used, so not every part is built of the same material.

💡Something interesting

The name Mil comes from the shape of the two large surviving piers, not from anyone's name. From afar these two parts look like a pair of towers side by side and help you pick out the site on the plain.

🎒Good to know before you go