Rudkhan Shaft fortress
The fortress of Rudkhan or Hesāmi castle is located in the village Rudkhān, in the city of Fuman (Gilān region). Some experts trace its construction back to the Sasanian period and on the basis of the inscription of the entrance portal - currently kept at the Ganjineh museum in Rasht - the date of the renovation of the building is indicated between the years 918 and 921 of the lunar Hegira (period of the Seljuks).
The area of this complex, which is located above the heights of the forest-between the 665 and the 715 meters above sea level-is 2,6 acres with long fortification walls 1500 meters in which 65 towers and bastions were built .
Since this fortress is next to the river its name is "Rudkhān" and in the various historical periods it was also called with the following names: fortress hezār skin, Saksār, Sagsār and Sagsāl-year of the dog- and probably was built in this year.
The Rudkhān castle which, according to its structure, architecture and strategic and secret peculiarities, has historical value, consists of two parts, the two-storey citadel and the ghurkhāneh (place of military activities and where soldiers lived).
Le gharāval khāneha (place of rest of the guards and overseers and weapons store) on two floors with skylights and numerous predominant cracks in the surroundings were in the eastern part.
To the east of the castle there are twelve entrances, the prisons, an emergency door, the hammam and the toilet and to the west another twelve entrances, a spring, a bath, the water cistern, the cold room, the hammam, the main living room toilet and some residential units that are surrounded by towers and ramparts.
The fortress is surrounded by 40 surveillance towers with octagonal rooms with domed arches. All around the walls and towers you can see sloping openings to throw liquids and to shoot. To the north-east of the castle is the only access road with two defense towers next to it.
This complex was built with stone, bricks, stucco and cement mortar. The castle of Rudkhān for a long time the center of the governors of Gilān, on some occasions was the place where Mirza Kuchak Khan was hiding and once among the outposts of the fights of the Ismaelites of Alamut.
Before climbing the numerous steps leading to the castle, there is the small fortress bazaar with many restaurants offering local food and bread. kuluche of Fuman (typical cake stuffed with ground walnuts, sugar and cinnamon), prunes and lavashak (dried fruit in the form of rolls) and with shops where hand-woven fabrics by the women of Fuman are exhibited, local handicrafts etc ...
