Persian Qanat

Qanat is an ancient technology of Iranian to reach the water from the heart of the ground in the aired regions.

In the beginning, you need to know what a qanat is, then talk about this ancient technology and its features. qanat, with the Persian name of Kariz or Kahriz, is a Canal underground to conduct water from the water source to the ground. This source is named “mother well” that supplies the necessary water. Qanats were invented by Iranian dates back to the early 1st millennium BCE that developed in the Iran mountainous and arid regions, allowing farmers to be able to do agriculture in the lack of water on the ground. Mazhar is the name of the section that water exits through it. Qanat system indicates the civilization in the desert zones and the technical architectural system of Iran. Here you can see the process of a Persin Qanat system as follow:

• List of 11 Persian Qanats

  The 11 Persian Qanats, which located in the Khorasan, Yazd, Kerman, Isfahan, and Markazi Province, had been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage in 2016. Let’s talk about them in brief.
   
  • Qanats of Gonabad
    The Qanats of Gonabad is the oldest and largest networks of qanats in the world. It is also known as Kariz Kai Khosrow, which dates back to the Achaemenid Empire, located in Gonabad, Razavi Khorasan Province. This qanat includes two canals with a total length of 33 kilometers, and its mother well has a depth of 300 meters.

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• Ardestan Moon Qanat
  Moon Qanat is the only two-floored qanat of the world, located in Ardestan, Isfahan Province. You will see a significant system of running water in this qanat. The water flows in two floors without mixing in the canals. The Moon Qanat includes two parallel canals which constructed on each other and have mutual vertical wells. Its mother well is known as Twin Well because of these two wells with joint shafts.

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• Qanat of Vazvan
  This large and historical Qanat is located in the north of Vazvan, Isfahan Province. This qanat has an underground dam. The prominent point in the structure of this qanat is the existence of two underground rifts like a water furnace above the specific part of qanat (Band-e qanat) that save water of dam for 120 days and running water to the underground reservoirs. The water will flow to use with the force of gravity, after opening the embedded holes on the dam.

• Mozd Abad Qanat
  This qanat dates back to the 2000 years ago, located in Mozdabad, Isfahan Province. Mozd Abad Qanat with a total length of 1860 meters and a mother well with a depth of 72 meters, considered as the largest qanat of Meymeh District. You will see marvelous Stalactite and Stalagmite that has created a beautiful view like Ali-Sadr Cave.
   
• Hasan Abad Qanat
  Hasan Abad Qanat dates back to the Middle Islamic period (eighth century), located in Yazd, Yazd Province. The mother well of this qanat is located near the Gharbaliz spring. The main water of this qanat has supplied with the freshwater of the Shir Kuh heights. The canals of this qanat after a long path and watering several villages, ultimately, reach the Pahlavanpur Garden in Yazd.

• Qanat of Zarach
  This qanat dates back to 3000 years ago, located in the central part of Yazd Province, which has a total length of 100 kilometers. The significant point about this ancient qanat is locating its shafts under some historical monuments such as the Jameh Mosque of Yazd to have easy access to water.

• Ebrahim Abad Qanat
  This qanat dates back to the Qajar era, located in Arak, Markazi Province with a total length of 11 kilometers. The main water of this qanat has supplied with the freshwater of Haftad Qolleh heights.

• Qanats of Baladeh Ferdows
  This Qanat dates back to the Sassanid Empire, located in Ferdows, South Khorasan Province, which includes 15 wells.

• Qanat of Gowhariz
  Gowhariz Qanat with a length of more than three kilometers, located in Kerman Province. This qanat includes six qanat chains, 129 wells. It is considered as one of the most watery qanats in Jupar district that the main water of this qanat has supplied from a fault.

• Akbar Abad & Ghasem Abad
  These two qanats which are known to be twin, located in the south area of Bam, Kerman Province. Akbar Abad has a total length of more than one kilometer and Ghasem Abad has a total length of more than two kilometers.