Palace of Ardashir in Firuzabad

The Palace of Ardashir was built in 224, right after Ardashir I defeated the last Parthian king Artabanus and founded the Sasanian empire. It stands two kilometres from the round city of Gur, the future Firuzabad, at the outlet of a spring whose water filled the large rectangular pool in front of the facade. The building is made of rubble stone in lime mortar and stretches about one hundred metres. Its main feature is three square halls roofed with domes: the transition from the square of the walls to the circle of the dome is made with squinches, corner arches, and this is the oldest known example of that solution, from which all the later domed architecture of Iran and the Islamic world descends. At the top of each dome a round opening is left to give light. Adjoining the palace are a tall iwan and living rooms around an inner courtyard. In 2018 the monument was added to the UNESCO list as part of the Sasanian archaeological landscape of Fars. The palace stands two kilometres from the round city of Gur at the outlet of a spring, and people get there by car from Firuzabad. There is an entrance fee and little shade. It is usually seen together with the other Sasanian monuments of the valley, the fortress of Qaleh Dokhtar and the rock reliefs. Payment in cash.

On the map