Circular town

A circular city with a 1500 years old history may be sound strange for you. This city is called Ardashir-Khwarrah or Shahr-e Gour, located in Fars Province, Iran.

Ardashir Babakan, the first founder of the Sasanians, was very fond of building the city. He was a very creative person and dreamer and he always dreamed of the kingdom. During the Artabanus V of Parthia, Ardashir revolted and made an army against Artabanus. Now Ardashir needed capital, so he ordered skilled architects to build a city called Ardashir Khurra. The city was in the shape of a circle that had four main gates, and it drove away from the city for protection with a fence and a ditch.

The names of these four gates are as follows: Mehr, Hormizd, Bahram and Ardashir.

It is interesting to know that the city drawn to 20 equal parts from the center of the circle. There are 4 main routes in the town that reach the center of the city and into a high-rise building.

Some archaeologists think that this building located in the center of the city, has been the water divine temple of the town, and some others believed that it was a fire temple.

Due to the skillful water supply of the town, it became a beautiful city with many gardens, whose red flowers were very famous. In the city of Sasanian, for the trade of goods, the Rosewater (Golab) exported to cities of the world.

Other buildings have been discovered in this city: the observatory and Takht Neshin. The presence of the observatory shows that the Sasanian people were of great importance to science.

The name of this city changed into a Gour in the history. Years later, Adud al-Dawla changed the name of the Gour to Firuzabad because the name was ominous.

• What is the best time to go?

You can visit this old city in all seasons, but strolling through the ancient town of Ardashir khurra in the spring is an odd feeling.

• Getting there?

The Ardashir khurra city located near the Firuzabad city in Fars province. The distance from Ardashir khurra to Firuzabad is about 3 km. you are about 11 minutes away by your car. You can access the ancient city through the streets of Golzar Shohada.