Dokhtar Fortress
The fortress Dokhtar (of the girl) of Firuz Ābād is one of the world's oldest buildings with a dome located in the Fārs region; Artaserse Bābakān, king sasanide (241-224 AD) built it at the end of the Parthian period and was used as a palace and military fortress.
Its etymology recalls the attribution to the goddess Anahita, goddess of the groundwater and of innocence that in Persian culture was imagined as a pure and chaste girl.
This fortress was built entirely with thick stones, those of the facade have been polished but those of the foundation and inside the walls are made up of large river pebbles.
The magnificence of the building is astonishing and its high walls despite the signs of aging and crumbling still now have an admirable solemnity.
This solid fortress had been built on three levels and its access was via a spiral staircase. The floors of this building inside were connected to each other by a stepped tower. On the first floor the guard room was excavated with watchtowers on different directions with special openings and the possibility of shooting from the inside out, a water reserve and two wells covered in the heart of the mountain to the depth of the river ; on the second floor there was a courtyard with a large hall, a resting place for the guards and defenders and a special area reserved for guests.
On the third floor was the king's building with the administrative office and the dome-shaped hall. On the outer bodies of this fortress there were rectangular openings for the reconnaissance of the guards.
In one section of the fortress one can see the entrance of a cave which, according to some inhabitants of the area, had access to the palace of Artaserse Bābakān (Sasanian palace) in the plain of Firuz Ābād.
This fortress also had a stone water cistern in the heart of the mountain and next to it a small hammam used as a royal hammam. The building was destroyed due to erosion and only the walls and rooms that had collapsed in the eastern section remained. The fortress Pesar or Kor is located in the mountain opposite the Dokhtar fortress and is currently destroyed.
