The Palaceof Ardashir Pāpakan (in Persian : کاخ اردشير پاپکان, Kākh-e Ardashir-e Pāpakān), also known as the Atash-kadeh آتشکده, is a castle located on the slopes of the mountain on which Dezh Dokhtar is situated. Built in AD 224 by King Ardashir I of the Sassanian Empire, it is located two kilometers (1.2 miles) north of the ancient city of Gor, i.e. the old city of Artakhsher Khwarah/Khor Adashir/Gor Adesheer (Glory of [king] Ardasher) in Pars, in ancient Persia (Iran). The ancient city where the palace is located, was renamed "Peroz" (lit. victorious) after Ardashir established the Sassanian Empire by overthrowing Ardavan, the last Parthian king. After the Arabian conquest, Peroz was called Firuz, and the name remained. The modern city of Firuzabad is hence, of important significance in Persian history.
The structure contains three domes, among other features, making it slightly larger and more magnificent than its predecessor, the nearby castle of Dezh Dokhtar. However, it seems that the compound was designed to display the royalty image of Ardashir I, rather than being a fortified structure for defense purposes. That is why perhaps it would be best to refer to the structure as a "palace" rather than a "castle", even though it has huge walls on the perimeters (twice as thick as Ghal'eh Dokhtar), and is a contained structure. From the architectural design, it seems the palace was more of a place of social gathering where guests would be introduced to the imperial throne.
What is particularly interesting about this palace is that its architectural design does not exactly fall into that of the Parthians or even Sassanian category; the design is a unique design particular to architects of Fars.
The palace was built next to a picturesque pond that was fed by a natural spring, perhaps in connection with the Persian goddess of water and growth, Anahita. The spring is thought to have fed a royal garden, in the same way that Cyrus had his garden (bustan) built at Pasargadae. The pond was tiled on its sides, surrounded by pavement for guests of the royal court to enjoy the evenings by.
The structure is 104 m (340 ft) by 55 m (180 ft). The iwan is 18 m (60 ft) high, although it has partially collapsed. The structure was built of local rocks and mortar with plasterwork on the insides. The style of the interior design is comparable to that of Tachara palace at Persepolis.[ citation needed ]
Jane Dieulafoy visited the site with her husband, Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, and described it in La Perse, la Chaldée et la Susiane. [1]
Robert Byron was there in February 1934, and wrote about his visit in The Road to Oxiana . Byron considered the Palace to include the prototype of the squinch. In his view, buildings such as St. Peter's Basilica and the Taj Mahal would not have existed without the squinch and the pendentive. [2]
Iran has tentatively listed the Palace of Ardashir and other sites in and around Firouzabad as a possible UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. [3]
Ardashir I, also known as Ardashir the Unifier, was the founder of the Persian Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Parthian shahanshah Artabanus IV on the Hormozdgan plain in 224, he overthrew the Arsacid dynasty and established the Sasanian dynasty. Afterwards, Ardashir called himself "shahanshah" and began conquering the land that he called Iran.
Iranian architecture or Persian architecture is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and from the Caucasus to Zanzibar. Persian buildings vary greatly in scale and function, from vernacular architecture to monumental complexes. In addition to historic gates, palaces, and mosques, the rapid growth of cities such as the capital Tehran has brought about a wave of demolition and new construction.
Qal'eh Dokhtar, Ghale Dokhtar, Dokhtar Castle or Dezh Dokhtar is a castle made by Ardashir I, in present-day Fars, Iran, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the Firouzabad-Kavar road.
Firuzabad is a city in the Central District of Firuzabad County, Fars province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Firuzabad is south of Shiraz. The city is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch.
In architecture, a squinch is a structural element used to support the base of a circular or octagonal dome that surmounts a square-plan chamber. Squinches are placed to diagonally span each upper corner where the walls meet. Constructed from masonry, they have several forms, including: a graduated series of stepped arches; a hollow, open half-cone laid horizontally; or a small half-dome niche. They are designed to spread the load of a dome to the intersecting walls on which they are built. By bridging corners, they also visually transition an angular space to a round or near-circular zone.
Taq-e Bostan is a site with a series of large rock reliefs from the era of the Sassanid Empire of Persia (Iran), carved around the 4th century CE.
The Anahita Temple is the name of one of two archaeological sites in Iran popularly thought to have been attributed to the ancient Iranian deity Anahita. The larger and more widely known of the two is located at Kangāvar in Kermanshah Province. The other is located at Bishapur.
Sasanian architecture refers to the Persian architectural style that reached a peak in its development during the Sasanian era. In many ways the Sasanian Empire period witnessed the highest achievement of Iranian civilization, and constituted the last great pre-Islamic Persian Empire before the Muslim conquest. Much of Sasanian architecture was adopted by Muslims and became part of Islamic architecture.
The Sasanian Empire, officially Ērānšahr, was the last empire of ancient Iran. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651, making it the second longest-lived imperial Iranian dynasty after the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia.
Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aradvi Sura Anahita, the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita is Ardwisur Anahid in Middle and Modern Persian, and Anahit in Armenian. An iconic shrine cult of Aredvi Sura Anahita was, together with other shrine cults, "introduced apparently in the 4th century BCE and lasted until it was suppressed in the wake of an iconoclastic movement under the Sasanids." The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower. Lotus Festival is an Iranian festival that is held on the end of the first week of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer.
The Sassanid Palace of Sarvestan is a Sassanid-era building in the Iranian city of Sarvestan, some 90 km southeast from the city of Shiraz. The palace was built in the 5th century AD, and was either a gubernatorial residence or a Zoroastrian fire temple.
Zarrin Kafsh also Zarrinkafsh is the name of a Kurdish tribe in Kurdistan Province of Iran which took part in the history of the Iranian Kurdistan Province especially the city of Sanandaj under the rule of the Ardalan princes. The families of Zarrinnaal and Zarrinkafsh belong to this tribe.
Jāmeh Mosque of Varāmīn, Congregation mosque of Varamin, Friday mosque of Varamin or Grand mosque of Varamin is the grand congregational mosque of Varamin in the Tehran province of Iran. This mosque is one of the oldest buildings of Varamin city. Its construction began during the reign of Sultan Mohammad Khodabaneh and was completed during his son's, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, rule in 1322. This building consists of a shabestan, portico, large brick dome, the structure beside shabestan and ten small arches along with one large arch in the middle.
Jane Dieulafoy was a French archaeologist, explorer, novelist, feminist and journalist. She was the wife of Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy. She and her husband excavated the Ancient Persian city of Susa and made various discoveries some of which are displayed in the Louvre museum.
Sasanian art, or Sassanid art, was produced under the Sasanian Empire which ruled from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD, before the Muslim conquest of Persia was completed around 651. In 224 AD, the last Parthian king was defeated by Ardashir I. The resulting Sasanian dynasty would last for four hundred years, ruling modern Iran, Iraq, and much territory to the east and north of modern Iran. At times the Levant, much of Anatolia and parts of Egypt and Arabia were under its control. It began a new era in Iran and Mesopotamia, which in many ways was built on Achaemenid traditions, including the art of the period. Nevertheless, there were also other influences on art of the period that came from as far as China and the Mediterranean.
Persian domes or Iranian domes have an ancient origin and a history extending to the modern era. The use of domes in ancient Mesopotamia was carried forward through a succession of empires in the Greater Iran region.
Pars was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity, which almost corresponded to the present-day province of Fars. The province bordered Khuzestan in the west, Kirman in the east, Spahan in the north, and Mazun in the south.
Chartaq, chahartaq (چهارطاق), chartaqi (چارطاقی), or chahartaqi (چهارطاقی), literally meaning "having four arches", is an architectural unit consisted of four barrel vaults and a dome.
The Minar was a staged, tower-like structure built in the center of the Sasanian circular city of Gōr. Several theories have been proposed for its purpose. Only the core of the structure remains today.
Peroz I Kushanshah was Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 245 to 275. He was the successor of Ardashir I Kushanshah. He was an energetic ruler, who minted coins in Balkh, Herat, and Gandhara. Under him, the Kushano-Sasanians further expanded their domains into the west, pushing the weakened Kushan Empire to Mathura in North India.