Toghrol Tower ( Persian: برج طغرل‌) also transliterated ''Toghrul'', ''Tughrol'', or ''Tughrul'') is a 12th-century monument, located in the city of Rey,

Tehran province Tehran province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tehran. Tehran province covers an area of and is located to the north of the central plateau of Iran. It was made a part of the First Region with its secretar ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Tuğrul Tower is near Rashkan Castle. The

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

tower is the

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

ruler Tughril I, who died in Rey in 1063. Originally, like other monuments of its time, it was capped by a conical

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

(گنبد, '' gonbad''), which collapsed during an earthquake. The thickness of the walls varies from 1.75 to 2.75 meters. The inner and outer diameters are 11 and 16 meters, respectively. The exterior shape is that of a

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

with 24 angles in its design, which is thought to contribute to the structure's stability against tremors. At the top of the tower,

Kufic The 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 ...

inscriptions were originally observable. The tower is protected by

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Iran () is an educational and research institution overseeing numerous associated museum complexes throughout Iran. It is administered and funded by the Government of Iran. It was ...

. In some texts this place is called Burj Khalifa Yazid. According to some experts' ideas, this tower is like a clock pointer and the time can be recognized by the sunshine on its congresses.

History

It is said that one of the uses of this tower was to use it on foggy nights by lighting a fire on its high barrier to guide the travelers of the Silk Road coming from Khorasan to Rey, and to meet the chronological needs of the people during the day. According to Manouchehr Arian in the article "Another Look at the Towers", calling the term "tower" to this building and similar buildings refers to the annual moving passageways of sunlight in Zodiacal. In addition to this feature, Toghrol Tower has another unique feature called the sundial that is hidden in the heart of its congresses.

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...

ordered some restorations to be made to the top part of the tower, which was collapsing in 1884.

Burial dispute

There are many challenges and discrepancies between experts and historians about the character buried in this building. Some consider it to be the tomb of Tughral Beyk of Seljuk, and it is stated in the “Mahmalottavarikh” book on page 465 that "Sultan Tughralibek died in the city of Rey and his tomb is there." Turkish historian, Faregh Sumer also considers the burial place of Toghrol in the same location. Other writers consider this place to be the burial place of Khalil Sultan, the son of Timur Lang and his wife Shadalmolk in the 15th century. In the book of Reye Baastaan (the ancient Ray) authoring Hassan Karimiyan is mentioned that a group attributes this monument to Fakhr Deilami. Mohammad Mohit Tabatabai considered this building to belong to Ibrahim Khawas and he himself was buried next to this tower in 1992.

Decline and restoration

As mentioned above, Toghrol Tower was first renovated in 1922 and at the end of the 35th year of the reign of Naser al-Din Shah. This restoration was carried out by the order of the Shah and by the Chancellor Amin al-Sultan and by Abul Hassan Khan Memarbashi and marble slabs were installed on the entrance of the building. This reconstruction saved the building from the danger of destruction, but destroyed the elegance of the old works and the tomb of the Kufic inscription. After the Revolution of 1978, this building was abandoned until it was rebuilt again in the early seventies, and seriously began in mid-1998 and ended in the winter of 2000. Reconstruction is currently underway by District 20 of Tehran Municipality in an area of 2 hectares in order to expand and build a cultural center, library, museum and restaurant.

Gallery

File:Burj Tughrul bala.jpg, Detail of brickwork of upper sections. The Seljuki style is readily observable. File:Toghrol Tower portal.jpg, Portal and interior File:Details of the tower built of brick, Ruins of Rei by Pascal Coste.jpg File:Tower and ruins of Rhey Yezid by Eugène Flandin.jpg File:Toghrol Tower-1401 04.jpg, The entrance to the building with a historical inscription File:Toghrol Tower-1401 03.jpg, View of the sky from inside the building File:Toghrol Tower-1401 05.jpg File:Toghrol Tower-1401 01.jpg

References

* Sumer F(2001).Aghoozha(Turkmanha),HajTalaei. * Raazi A.Alnaghz.
Toqrol Tower, Ray

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120113070012/http://www.ketabeavval.ir/Tehran/1912.aspx * https://web.archive.org/web/20080504225044/http://www.chn.ir/News/?section=2&id=24644 * :fa:برج طغرل {{Towers in Iran Towers in Iran Buildings and structures in Tehran province Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List Mosque ruins in Iran

History

Burial dispute

Decline and restoration

Gallery

See also

References