Explore age-old Chehel-Dokhtaran Minaret in Iran’s Isfahan

Chehel-Dokhtaran Minaret is a historical minaret and a top tourist destination located in Jewish quarter of Iran’s Isfahan.

Meaning ‘forty girls’ in the Persian language, the minaret is said to be built in the neighborhood of Jubareh during the reign of Malek-Shah who was a sultan of the Seljuk Empire.

It is not clear why the minaret is called Chehel-Dokhtaran. However, narratives say that locals believed single girls would marry soon if they could come to this minaret and give walnut to a passerby.

The 26-meter-long mud-brick Chehel-Dokhtaran is decorated with intricate brickworks and inscriptions written in Kufic and Naskh calligraphy.

It is said that the Chehel-Dokhtaran Minaret was originally about one meter longer than what is today, but its upper part was ruined in the course of time.

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