Chehel Dokhtaran minaret ( fa, مناره چهل دختران) is a historical minaret in Isfahan,

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 located in the

Jouybareh district The Jouybareh district is the oldest district of Isfahan. The district originates in the early Achaemenid era and because of the immigration of the babylonian jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligio ...

of Isfahan. According to the

kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

on the minaret, it is built in 1112. It is the fifth oldest minaret in Iran, which has an inscription. There's a big window on the minaret, which faces the

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the ...

. This feature does not exist in other minarets of Isfahan. There is a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

in the minaret, which leads to the top of it. This minaret is 40 meters high. Originally, the minaret was higher, but in the course of time its height has been decreased. The minaret towers over the city quarter and can be seen from the far distance, but it is difficult to reach it through the mazes of winding alleys and narrow streets.'

Etymology

''Chehel Dokhtaran'' in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

means ' forty girls'. The origin of its meaning is unknown. The number 'forty' in the Iranian culture is used for exaggerating. Perhaps there was once a building beside it, which pertained exclusively to women and does not exist any more. The people of the Neighborhood call this minaret also ''Garland minaret''. Garland was a British religious

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, who came to Iran in the early 20th century and worked near the minaret.

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1112 12th-century mosques Towers completed in the 12th century Minarets in Iran Buildings and structures in Isfahan {{Iran-struct-stub