Ghal'eh Dokhtar - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ghal'eh Dokhtar or Qala-e-Dokhtar, also known as The Maiden Castle, is a castle made by Ardashir I

Ardashir I

Ardashir I was the founder of the Sassanid Empire, was ruler of Istakhr , subsequently Fars Province , and finally "King of Kings of Sassanid Empire " with the overthrow of the Parthian Empire...

, in present day Fars, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the Firouzabad-Shiraz road.

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

Anahita

Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ' ; the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom...

, to whom the term "Maiden" refers. After capturing Isfahan

Isfahan (city)

Isfahan , historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 km south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609, Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad...

and Kerman

Kerman

- Geological characteristics :For the Iranian paleontologists, Kerman has always been considered a fossil paradise. Finding new dinosaur footprints in 2005 has now revealed new hopes for paleontologists to better understand the history of this area.- Economy :...

from the Parthians, Ardashir (re)built the city of Gur near the castle in Firouzabad

Firouzabad

Firuzabad is a city in and the capital of Firuzabad County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 58,210, in 12,888 families.Firuzabad is located south of Shiraz. The town is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch....

, making it his capital. After defeating Ardavan V ( Artabanus V ), the Parthian

Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

king in a great battle in 224 AD, he built the Palace of Ardashir

Palace of Ardashir

Castle of Ardeshir e Babakan , also known as the Atash-kadeh آتشکده, is a castle located on the slopes of the mountain on which Ghal'eh Dokhtar is situated on. Built in AD 224 by Ardashir I of the Sassanian Empire, it is located two kilometres north of the ancient city of Gor, i.e...

nearby the Ghal'eh Dokhtar structure. Ardashir's grandfather was a prominent priest of the Goddess Anahita at the nearby temple of Darabgird, "City of Darius."

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 niches on either side and two large buttresses 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

Iwan

An iwan 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 pishtaq, a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework, and...

at the east end and arched blind windows on either side.

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 squinch

Squinch

A squinch in architecture is a construction filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome...

es 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 palace and civic architecture: long halls

Iwan

, arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

es, domes, 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.

See also