The Gouged stronghold is located in the city of Gouged, in the

Golpayegan county Golpayegan County ( fa, شهرستان گلپایگان) is located in Isfahan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Golpayegan. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 82,601, in 24,701 households. Retrieved 26 October 2022 The f ...

, in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The city Gouged is located 5 km to the north of

Golpayegan Golpayegan ( fa, گلپایگان, Golpāyegān; also known as Shahr-e Golpāyegān meaning "City of Golpayegan") is a city and capital of Golpayegan County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 217,849, in 44,263 fam ...

. In peacetime, the

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

was used as a

caravansary A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside Pub#Inns, inn where travelers (caravan (travellers), caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the ne ...

, but during the war time or when the bandits attacked, it was used as a castle. This structure is located in the Golpayegani

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...

and Ghale alley. At present, the stronghold is used as a traditional three star hotel. The Gouged stronghold is one of the biggest adobe and mud structure in Iran. It was built approximately 400 years ago. The only document related to this structure dates back to 140 years ago. By this document, Ali Khan Bakhtiari gave half of the stronghold to his wife as

mahr In Islam, a mahr (in ar, مهر; fa, مهريه; tr, mehir; sw, mahari; also transliterated ''mehr'', ''meher'', ''mehrieh'', or ''mahriyeh'') is the obligation, in the form of money or possessions paid by the groom, to the bride at the time ...

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