Product Code Database
Gonbad-e Kavus () is a city in the Central District of Gonbad-e Kavus County, Golestan Province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.
The modern name, meaning "the tower of Kavus", is a reference to the most imposing ancient monument in the city. The historic name cannot now be restored, because it was assigned to the neighboring historical city of Astarabad in the 1930s by the Iranian government. At one point, it was even known as the city of Dasht-e Gorgan, meaning "the Plains of Gorgan".
In the historical times, the city's populations were made up of various Iranic peoples such as the ancient and eponymous Hyrcanians, Parthian Empire and eventually the Khurasani Persians. Today, however, the population is a mix of Turkmens, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Golestannma Sistani Persians, Baloch people, Semnanis, and Khorasanis.
The city is famous for its historic brick tower of the same name. The city has an ethnically diverse population and the biggest ethnic group is Persians followed by Iranian Azeris and Turkmens. The Persians and Iranian Azeris tend to mainly follow Shia Islam while the Turkmens are mostly Sunni Muslim.
At certain points, the Divar is wide and in other parts the width is , depending on the nature of the land and the soil type. Watch towers and forts had been built at varying distances. The longest distance between forts is and the shortest is . The 40 identified forts vary in dimension and shape but the majority are square fortresses. Due to many difficulties in development and agricultural projects, archaeologists have been assigned to mark the boundary of the historical find by laying cement blocks.
The Divar defensive wall has also been known variously as Alexander Dam, Anushirvân Dam, Firuz Dam and Golestan's Defense Wall in various historical texts.
Dr. Kiani, who led the archaeological team in 1971, believes that the wall was built during the Parthian dynasty, simultaneously with the construction of the Great Wall of China, and that it was restored during the Sassanid era (3rd to 7th centuries AD).
|
|
