Zahhak Castle (or citadel) is a castle in

Hashtrud Hashtrud ( fa, هشترود; also Romanized as Hashtrūd; also known as Āz̄arān, Sarāskand, Sar Eskand, Sar Eskandar, and Sar Eskand Khān) is a city and capital of Hashtrud County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Hashtrud is located 140&nbs ...

East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, ...

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 ...

. It is named after

Zahhak Zahhāk or Zahāk () ( fa, ضحّاک), also known as Zahhak the Snake Shoulder ( fa, ضحاک ماردوش, Zahhāk-e Mārdoush), is an evil figure in Persian mythology, evident in ancient Persian folklore as Azhi Dahāka ( fa, اژی دهاک) ...

, a figure in

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology (Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origi ...

. According to various experts, it was inhabited from the second millennium BC until the

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

era. It was first excavated in the 19th century by British archeologists.

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization ( fa, وزارت میراث فرهنگی، گردشگری و صنایع دستی ایران, ''Vâzart-e Miras-e Ferhengi-ye, Gârdâshigâri-ye vâ Sânai'-ye Dâsti-ye Iran'') is ...

has been studying the structure in 6 phases. Zahak castle 1

References

External links

Tishineh
Castles in Iran Parthian castles Buildings and structures in East Azerbaijan Province {{Iran-struct-stub National works of Iran Parthian architecture