![]() ![]() ![]() The remnants of their hunting palace are now covered with a discordant modern roof forming a storeroom (often locked) for amphorae, unlabelled column fragments, photos and a couple of ceramic sections of those ancient gas pipes.Ī guide is often available at the site gate, and can help you make sense of all the piles of stone if you share enough language. In the 13th century Takht-e Soleiman became a summer retreat for the Mongol Ilkhanid khans. The ruse worked, the complex survived and the name stuck. Realising Islam’s reverence for biblical prophets, they fabricated a tale of Solomon’s one-time residence here to avert the site’s certain destruction. Takht-e Soleiman’s name isn't based on real historical links to the Old Testament King Solomon, but was a cunning 7th-century invention by the temple’s Persian guardians in the face of the Arab invasion. Fire was provided thanks to a natural volcanic gas channelled through ceramic pipes to sustain an ‘eternal flame’ in the ateshkadeh (fire temple). This pours forth 90L per second and would have been channelled through an Anahita-style water temple. Water (albeit undrinkably poisonous) was provided in abundance by the limpidly beautiful, ‘bottomless’ crater lake that still forms the centre of the site. Zoroastrianism had by this stage incorporated many magi-inspired elements, including the veneration of earth, wind (plenty here), water and fire. Taxis (US$18 return including waiting time) can be negotiated in Takab's Ghalam Sq. Nonetheless, the site's sheer age and magnificent setting are attractions enough. Today only fragments remain: you shouldn’t expect Persepolis-style carvings. In the 3rd century the state religion of Sassanian Persia was Zoroastrianism, and Takht-e Soleiman (then called Azergoshnasb) was its spiritual centre. Sitting in a lonely bowl of mountains, ringed by 1500-year-old walls, these Unesco-listed ruins are one of the most memorable sights of western Iran. ![]()
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