East Kurdistan · Rojhelat · Persian, Roman & Sasanian
Takht-e Soleyman
A walled Sasanian sanctuary around a deep, spring-fed lake on a hilltop — home of one of the three great fire temples of the empire.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Period
- 5th–7th century AD; rebuilt 13th century
- Place
- Near Takab
- Region
- East Kurdistan · Rojhelat
- Age
- Persian, Roman & Sasanian
The Sasanians built a fortified oval wall with thirty-eight towers around a small, very deep lake fed by a spring, and inside it the fire temple of Adur Gushnasp, where kings came on pilgrimage before taking the throne. Water and fire — the lake and the temple — were set side by side by design.
In the 13th century the Ilkhanid Mongols built a summer palace on the ruins, decorated with glazed tiles. The site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003.
Chosen and introduced by Aram Mizuri, architect in Erbil