Sarvestan Palace

29°11′44″N 53°13′51″E / 29.19556°N 53.23083°E / 29.19556; 53.23083Completed420-422 AD^[1]

The Sassanid Palace of Sarvestan (Persian: کاخ ساسانی سروستان, romanized: kakh-eh Sassani-ye 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.

History

The Sarvestan Palace was built by the Sasanian king Bahramgur (Persian: بهرام گور; r. 420–438) and dominates an immense, empty plain. The name "palace" is considered misleading, because the monument's function is obscure. It may have been a hunting lodge or a sanctuary instead of a palace, because of the presence of a small building, just north of the palace, whose function remains unknown.^[2]

Palace court

A visitor who would have arrived from the south, would have seen three iwans. After entering the central one, he would have reached a large square hall under a large dome, made of baked brick. After this, a visitor would have found himself on a rectangular courtyard, surrounded by the residential quarters. The building reminds one of the Ghal'eh Dokhtar and the palace of Ardashir, both near Firuzabad; the difference is that the Sarvestan palace is open to all sides. The building, made of stone and mortar, must have had fine decorations, which partly survive.^[2]

See also

• Iranian architecture
• History of Persian domes

References

• J Homayooni (1996), History of Sarvestan.

Periods

Zoroastrian	Achaemenid Parthian style Sasanian
Islamic	Early Islamic Seljuk Ilkhanid Timurid Safavid

TypesElementsTraditional citiesTheory and analysisLists