Narin Castle, Meybod

🕰️When was it built?

Narin Castle was not built all at once; it grew in layers over several periods. Archaeologists date its large mud-brick section to the Sasanian era because a seal and an inscription in Pahlavi script were found there. Below that, pottery from the Iron Age, much older still, has been found. Its last major building and repair work came under the Muzaffarids, in the 8th century AH (14th century CE).

🏛️What was it built for?

This was the citadel of Meybod, where the ruler sat and where the town could defend itself in an attack. It had two parts: the upper part, the ruler's quarters, which still stands, and the lower part, with people's houses, a mosque and a bathhouse, of which nothing is left today.

👀What you will see

• Four tall round mud-brick towers and thick walls around the castle.
• The Muzaffarid royal quarters, the highest part of the castle, reached by a path that winds up around it.
• Small interconnected rooms, not all of which have been excavated yet.
• The bukan, rooms dug into the ground, which are the oldest part of the castle.
• The whole town of Meybod, which you can see from the top.

💡Something interesting

Ja'fari, who wrote the first history of Yazd in the 8th century AH, credited the castle to King Solomon and said it was built to hide his treasure. It is only a legend, but it shows that people have thought of the castle as ancient for a very long time.

🎒Good to know before you go