The site

The largest adobe structure in the world, a citadel on the Silk Road at the edge of the Iranian desert, inhabited from Achaemenid times until the 19th century. Mud-brick walls, towers, a bazaar and a fortified governor’s quarter rose in tiers of sun-dried earth, sustained by underground qanats. A catastrophic earthquake in 2003 flattened much of the ancient town and killed tens of thousands; the citadel has been painstakingly rebuilt ever since with traditional techniques.

Field notes

civilizations

Sasanian

types

Citadel · Fortress

built

500 BCE — 224 CE

occupied

500 BCE — 1,932 CE

country

Iran