Ziaiyeh School (Alexander's Prison)

🕰️When was it built?

The oldest part dates from the 7th century AH (13th century CE), in the Ilkhanid period, and is credited to Zia al-Din Hossein Razi. The complex took shape in several stages, and the domed chamber is older than the school. It was added to the National Heritage List in early 1968 as number 770.

🏛️What was it built for?

The old domed chamber was built as a tomb, and the school grew up beside it later. The rooms around the courtyard were for the school, and the teacher's house was reached from the entrance vestibule. Only a small part of that house survives today.

👀What you will see

• The dome is about twenty metres high, and some of its stucco and gold and lapis-blue paint survive inside.
• A well about four metres across sits in the middle of the courtyard and leads to a cellar about seven metres down.
• The rooms around the courtyard have small iwans, and four taller iwans give the complex its four-iwan plan.
• The way to the teacher's house led from the entrance vestibule, and a small part of that house can still be seen.

💡Something interesting

The name Alexander's Prison comes from a story that Alexander the Great built a prison here. It is a story about the name and does not mean Alexander built the present building; the architecture that survives belongs to much later periods.

🎒Good to know before you go

• In the courtyard, watch out for the well in the middle and the drop between it and the ground around it.