East Azarbaijan

The cliff-edged castle-citadel of Zahhak is located in the northwestern part of Iran, 16 kilometers off Hashtroud city in East Azarbaijan Province.

Dating back 2,000 years before the start of the Persian Empire, the castle was used as a watch tower and a fire temple during the late Parthain and early Sassanid eras.

Zahhak is located on the Sahand Mountains and was first discovered by a British colonel in 1830. In 1971, a German archaeological expanded investigations of the semi-cylindrical castle.

The Roman-triumphal-arch like Zahhak has a length of 10 meters, 1-3 meters width and a height of 150-250 m. It also includes a brick-made square shaped hall.

Archaeologists have unearthed the Zahhak stony castle in recent years and discovered that different vestiges of the castle belong to the Parthian Empire.

They also found carvings of animals and symbols on the castle walls that depict what royalty life was like in ancient Iran.

A combination of Persian and western ancient architecture adds to the beauty of the castle. Striking plasterworks of human, vegetation and geometrical designs have decorated the muddy and brick-shaped walls of the castle; all belonging to the ancient era.