What’s the reason behind building Pigeon Towers in Iran?

Iranians in the Safavid era used to build huge structures for pigeons as a place for them to make their nests.

The structures were so huge that were called pigeon towers. What do you think was the reason behind building such towers while they could make small nests for the birds?

In the old times, there were 3000 pigeon towers in the Iranian province of Isfahan.

The towers were usually built in cylinder forms using materials such as mud, plaster and lime.

The main reason of building the pigeon towers was to use the birds’ droppings as fertilizer for farms. Usually, once a year the towers were opened and the droppings were collected.

The dropping also were used in leather crafting and gunpowder making.

With the production of chemical fertilizers, farmers stopped using pigeon droppings and the towers became useless. But the remaining ones are still a warm place for the birds.

PR/MM