Towers of silence

In the cold nights of Yazd, there is a monument built for the dead. The building was designed on top of the crypt of the mountain to get rid of the dead bodies to be eaten by the birds.

In the vast country of Iran, many religions lived, each of them has different ceremonies and architecture. One of the most ancient religions in Iran is Zoroastrianism. Many monuments of Zarathustra have survived, such as tombs, fire temples, and catacombs. The Maneckji crypt and the Golestan crypt are among the Zoroastrian indexes.

• What is a tower of silence?

One of the principal foundations of Zoroastrianism is the preservation of the environment and the four elements that these are: Soil, water, air and fire. The Zoroastrians believed that burial of the dead would cause the soil to be used for development and construction, it wasted, and a place of untapped and annoying remains. For example, if the corpses of the Zoroastrian dead were buried in this place, there is no place to expand the city and build a school, a university, a hospital, and so on. So, they used the crypt for the corpses of the dead. usually, the crypt was the place where the bodies of their dead put in until feed the Predatory animals and birds. Later, the caves made at high altitudes where only birds could access bodies. fundamentally, the catacombs were divided into two categories, either made by human hands or naturally occurring in nature, and only humans discovered them.

In Yazd province, 15 kilometers southeast of the mountain that is called the Mount crypt. On top of this mountain, there are two famous Zoroastrian crypts which are called the Maneckji crypt and the Golestan crypt.

• Maneckji tower of silence

The diameter of this crypt is about 15 meters and reminds her constructor of such a name. Maneckji is one of the most influential people in the Zoroastrian community. This tower of silence divided into several parts: 1- Road 2- crypt’s door 3- Inscription of the crypt 4- Segments inside the crypt 5- Ostudan

1. The road to the crypt: Since the crypt was located far from the villages and somehow far from civilization, the road should be used to get there. Part of the road was used by the public to deliver the bodies of the dead; But from the tower of silence to the door, only the liable were allowed to travel. But from the tower of silence to the door, only the liable were allowed to commute. Today, the road stepped up so that visitors can easily reach the crypt, but in the past, there were only a few small holes in it, so that Special people could cross it.
    
2. crypt’s door: Wherever there is a carcass and a corpse, the predatory animals also found. One of the ways to protect the corpse was by using an iron or stone door.
    
3. Inscription of the crypt: There was an inscription on the top of the door crypt that had information on it.
    
4. Segments inside the crypt: The interior surface of the tower of silence includes a flat and rounded space that has covered large boulders. It can be divided into three divisions within the catacombs: the male, the highest and largest division, the women's division, which is the middle section, and the children's sector, which is the smallest and the Lowest.
    
5. Ostudan: The inner surface of the catacombs from the wall towards the center is a slope and in the middle of the crypt, there is a deep well that is a moving rock called "Erwis" at the bottom. This deep well divided into four deeper wells around the catacombs, have a way and One meter from the depth of all wells was filled with sand. The middle hole is covered with rock and cement so that during the time of the existence of the bones in it and before the cleansing of wells, germs and contamination of the outside of the wells are not spread. This cavity is called Stouden, which gives meaning to the bone.

• Golestan tower of silence

During the Qajar period, the difficulty of passing through the mountain road of the Maneckji tower of silence had problems for the authorities. Due to, Golestan crypt built in smaller dimensions. Today it is seen at 150 meters west of the Maneckji tower of silence.

• Underground buildings crypt

In the 150 to 200-meter crypt and on the northern side of the mountain, there are several mansions of brick and muddy, stone or a combination of them that They usually have two stories and several rooms. These buildings are considered to be welfare building of the past.

House of Salar:

One of these buildings belonged to the Salar or the operator of the Catacombs; Salar is the person responsible for the death of Zoroastrians. In the past, he washed the body of the dead and carried it to the top of the tower. To put it on the birds. He was responsible for the tower of silence which was to stay in the crypt throughout his life and he had not to withdraw from its scope. It's interesting to know that the predatory birds did not attack dead bodies or Salar during the presence of Salar.

Fire room

One of the structures of this complex belonged to the fire. They were usually two people, and their work began from the day they entered the corpse into the tower of silence.  During the night, they burned the fire in a special room and kept it bright until morning. The light of the fire had to come from the window of the room to the whole crypt, and this continued for three nights. According to the Zoroastrians, three days, the soul of the deceased around and above his body flies and then the way to the sky.

• Clearing the Catacombs

After the body finishes and the body remains dry in the sun, and when the number of corps reaches 10 to 12, The bones of the dead body dropped by the authorities in the middle of the hole. Every few months, lime, sulfur or aqua regia was poured into it, so that the bones burned and turned into ashes. This ash washed by rainwater and goes to four wells on four sides of the central well. The bottom of these wells covered with sand and charcoal, which acted as a filter and cleaner for water, and eventually sent it to the depths of the earth.

• What is the best time to go?

The best time are from last September to mid-December and from mid-March to mid-May. On warmer days, it is best to watch the attraction near the sunset and in the cold days of noon.

• Getting there?

You can use the bus to reach the tower of silence. So, you can take one of the following buses and get off at Esar Square and It's just 3 minutes from Esar Square to the tower of silence.

1. Terminal Shohadate Mehrab-Fajr Farhangiyan
2. Terminal Shohadate Mehrab-Molasadra

You can vist tower of silence every day from 8:00 to 18:30 and also, you must pay 150000IRI for Ticket prices.