Qal'eh Dokhtar or Ghale Dokhtar or Dokhtar Castle or Dezh Dokhtar ( fa, دژ دختر, "The Maiden Castle"), is a castle made by Ardashir I, in present-day Fars,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the

Firouzabad Firuzabad ( fa, فيروزآباد or Piruzabad, also Romanized as Fīrūzābād; Middle Persian: Gōr or Ardashir-Khwarrah, literally "The Glory of Ardashir"; also Shahr-e Gūr ) is a city and capital of Firuzabad County, Fars Province, Iran. A ...

Kavar Kavar ( fa, كوار, also Romanized as Kavār; also known as Kaval) is a city and capital of Kavar County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 22,158, in 4,753 families. See also *Ardashir-Khwarrah Ardashir-Khwarrah ( ...

road.

Name

The name of the castle implies it was dedicated to the Goddess

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associate ...

, to whom the term "Maiden" refers. After capturing Isfahan and Kerman from the Parthians, Ardashir (re)built the city of ''Gur'' near the castle in Pirouzabad, making it his capital. After defeating Ardavan V ( Artabanus V), the

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

n king in a great battle in 224 AD, he built the Palace of Ardashir nearby the Dezh Dokhtar structure. Ardashir's grandfather was a prominent priest of the Goddess Anahita at the nearby temple of Darabgird, "City of Darius."

Location

The castle is built on a high bluff which overlooks the river and roadway running south from Fars. The entrance to the castle is through a tall gateway within a large, rectangular tower. Inside, a broad stairway leads up to a rectangular hall, with

blind niche A niche (CanE, or ) in Classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea (AD 64–69) was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms ...

s on either side and two large

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (si ...

at the east end. These supported stairways go up to the next level, with another large rectangular room, 14 x 23 m, with an

iwan An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...

at the east end and arched

blind window A blind arcade or blank arcade is an arcade (a series of arches) that has no actual openings and that is applied to the surface of a wall as a decorative element: i.e., the arches are not windows or openings but are part of the masonry face. It is ...

s on either side.

Specification

It was presumably roofed by an arched vault. Beyond this there are steps to a third level and a large rectangular room with ¼ circle squinches at each corner supporting a domed roof. This was buttressed by very thick walls on all sides, presumably to ensure its stability, and the cupola could be reached by a spiral staircase on the south side. The fortified palace contains many of the recurring features of

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

palace and civic architecture: long halls, arches,

domes A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, recessed windows, and stairways. The construction is uniform of roughly shaped stone and mortar, but the surfaces were obviously all finished with a thick coating of plaster or stucco, giving a smooth and elegant appearance, which could have been decorated with ornamentation or painting. The 1,800-year-old castle has lost some four meters of its original height over the last century and experts warn if urgent measures are not taken to enforce it, the castle may soon collapse.

Gallery

File:Qaleh Dokhtar 1 by Hadi Karimi.jpg, Far view from the castle File:Dokhtar castle, Firuzabad- by Hadi Karimi.jpg, Far view from the castle File:Dokhtar Palace2.jpg, Palace File:Dokhtar Palace1.jpg, Palace File:Bishabour - Daughter castle - panoramio.jpg, View of the castle File:Ghaledokhtar Firuzabad Fars.jpg, View of the castle File:269 قلعه دختر فیروزاباد فارس.jpg, View of the castle File:Ghale Dokhtar Bishapour 1.jpg, View of the castle File:Fars, Ghale dokhtar (فارس، قلعه دختر) - panoramio (3).jpg, Castle from above File:Fars, Ghale dokhtar (فارس، قلعه دختر) - panoramio (1).jpg, Main chamber File:Qaledochtar.jpg, Main chamber File:Fars, Ghale dokhtar (فارس، قلعه دختر) - panoramio (2).jpg, Main chamber

References

External links

* {{Sasanian castles 209 Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century Gor (Sasanian city) Castles in Iran Sasanian castles Buildings and structures in Fars Province Tourist attractions in Fars Province Ardashir I National works of Iran