Takht-e Soleyman — Throne of Solomon and Azargoshnasb Fire Temple
تخت سلیمان · Azargoshnasb · Ganzak · Shiz
Sasanian Empire 224–651 CE (peak 5th–7th century) → Ilkhanid 13th century reuse·Sasanian Zoroastrian → Ilkhanid Mongol Islamic palace phase·🇮🇷 West Azerbaijan Province, Urmia−Takab highland, Iran
About
About Takht-e Soleyman — Throne of Solomon and Azargoshnasb Fire Temple
Circular travertine-walled lake sanctuary (120 m lake, 60 m deep artesic spring) that was Sasanian Empire's highest Zoroastrian fire temple — Adur Gushnasp, one of three Great Fires — where Sasanian shahs walked barefoot across 13 m brick iwan before coronation. The 112×48 m fire temple with vaulted chahār-ṭāq sits beside an Anahita spring-temple and Khosrow I palace; Mongols after 1220 reused it as summer palace (Abaqa Khan's tile workshop under the iwan). UNESCO 2003.
Why it mattersPre-eminent Sasanian architectural canon — iwan plus chahār-ṭāq template for Islamic mosque.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Which artesian aquifer sustains crater lake level exactly despite outflow?
- 02How fire kept perpetual on windy plateau?
Theories
- 01Site purposely chosen for cold-heart-of-Azerbaijan esotericism — fire vs ice
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Achaemenid minor shrine? Sasanian monumental sanctuary c.420–540 CE (Shapur II to Khosrow I)
- Period
- Sasanian Empire 224–651 CE (peak 5th–7th century) → Ilkhanid 13th century reuse
- Culture
- Sasanian Zoroastrian → Ilkhanid Mongol Islamic palace phase
- Builders
- Sasanian kings Yazdegerd I–Khosrow I (state Zoroastrian architects); Ilkhanid Abaqa Khan tiles
- Purpose
- State fire temple (Adur Gushnasp) and coronation route station; Sasanian dynastic legitimization center
- Abandoned
- 627 CE (Heraclius sack torches temple); revived 1270 as Abaqa's palace; abandoned after 14th c.
- Rediscovered
- 1837 Rawlinson; 1959–78 R. Naumann (DAI) systematic
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.420 CE
Adur Gushnasp enclosure and travertine oval wall founded
c.540 CE
Khosrow I palace and spring palace added
627
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius captures and burns temple
1270
Abaqa Khan builds tile-lined palace in courtyard
On the ground
Structures & features
36.6103° N · 47.2186° E · 2220 m · 4 mapped features
Adur Gushnasp fire temple chahār-ṭāq
templeCrossed-arch sanctum where Great Fire burned, 112 m axis
36.6100° N · 47.2182° EArtesian crater lake
lake120 m lime-encrusted spring lake (60 m deep) inside walls
36.6103° N · 47.2190° EKhosrow / Abaqa palace with Ilkhanid tiles
palaceSasanian spring palace overlaid by Mongol tile hall
36.6098° N · 47.2180° EZendan-e Soleyman (prison cone 3 km W)
cone80 m empty artesian cone twin to Takht
36.6010° N · 47.1850° E
Gallery