Vali Castle: A Qajar-Era Fortress and Summer Residence in Iran

Site at a Glance

Rating

★4.4

Popularity

Low

Country

Iran

Primary era

Modern

Eras represented

Modern

Civilizations

Qajar

Site type

Domestic

Remains

Castle

History

Vali Castle is a Qajar-period fortress in Ilam, Iran, commissioned during the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which governed Iran from 1789 to 1925. Construction was ordered in 1326 AH by Gholamreza Khan Fili, a Qajar-era khan and vali, or regional governor, associated with Fili and Ilam. The complex was intended as his summer residence at Husseinabad Fili, also known as Deh Bala, and was built on a low hill in Ilam’s intermontane plain. It is also listed as having officially opened in 1908.

Construction under Gholamreza Khan Fili

Gholamreza Khan selected the site and ordered the work at Husseinabad Fili. An inscription at Takht Khan preserves the order to construct the castle there. The complex included not only the fortress but also a bath and a garden. Haj Darvish Ali Kermanshahi was responsible for the architectural work, while Reza Qoli carried out the stone carving.

Reza Qoli also had responsibility for protecting Gholamreza Khan’s women during the wars in which the khan was involved. After Gholamreza Khan fled to Baghdad in 1306 SH and an amnesty was issued, Reza Qoli returned to Ilam. He died in 1330 SH and was buried in Kermanshah.

War damage and restoration

Vali Castle suffered damage estimated at approximately half of its fabric during the Iran-Iraq War, the conflict fought between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988. Restoration began in 1367 SH in cooperation with the Cultural Heritage Organization and continued for two years, reaching completion in 1990. The complex was then placed under the administration of the cultural heritage authorities of Ilam Province.

The restoration aimed to retain the historic architecture without major alteration. Some interventions were nevertheless necessary. Steel beams were inserted into the veranda roofs and rooftop structures, sections with brick vaults were built, and some room walls were removed or added. The castle was registered as Iranian National Heritage in 1997 under registration number 1798. From 2006 onward, it has housed the Ilam Anthropology Museum.

Remains

Plan and setting

Vali Castle occupies a parcel of approximately 4,687.17 square metres. About 1,792 square metres form green space on the south side, while the built area covers approximately 1,466.01 square metres and the inner courtyard about 1,363.4 square metres. The building has a southern facade and an approximately trapezoidal plan.

The castle was originally built in an entirely open setting. Urban growth has since surrounded it with residential and administrative buildings. A six-metre alley separates the northern side from residences, an eight-metre street borders it to the west, an administrative building stands to the east, and Pasdaran Street runs along the south. Tall mature pine trees and a rectangular basin in the forecourt form part of its surviving landscape setting.

Courtyard and reception spaces

The castle contains 20 large rooms, five small rooms, four verandas, and two small covered terraces on the south side. Most rooms are connected internally and arranged in a nested sequence. The eastern and western wings stand approximately 80 centimetres above the courtyard floor. Four stone steps connect these raised wings with the floors of the rooms and verandas.

The northern side contains the shahneshin, the principal reception or audience hall, whose interior is larger than that of the other rooms. A small basin occupies its centre. Marble originally lined the basin and its rim, while coloured tiles were used during restoration. The basin was built around a spring that was once abundant but later became dry or nearly dry. A pipeline installed during restoration retained the spring’s symbolic presence. Water for the castle came from the Bibi Ab spring and was traditionally carried into the central courtyard through terracotta or earthen conduits.

Plasterwork with floral and vegetal designs decorates the walls and ceiling of the shahneshin. Mirror decoration was formerly widespread on the room ceilings, and particularly elaborate surviving fragments remain in a room on the western side.

Entrances, towers, and circulation

Three entrances open on the southern, southeastern, and western sides. The principal southern entrance follows a Greek-style design. It rises by 11 steps, each approximately 20 centimetres high, to a guardroom, followed by another eight steps leading to the courtyard. The southeastern and western entrances served private circulation or visitors and reached the courtyard through covered corridors.

At the ends of the entrance passages, two octagonal vestibules brought light to several rooms. One vestibule contains a small basin. Their architectural treatment includes brick articulation, blind arches, varied door arches, and brick decoration above the entrances. A blind arch is an arch-shaped recess or surface decoration rather than an open passage.

Three stairways with 90-degree turns connect the interior spaces with the roof. Two semicircular guard towers occupy the northeastern and northwestern corners. Their crenellations provided positions for sentries and observation, while blind arches forming niches along the corridors served as guard stations.

Brick construction and decoration

Brick is the principal construction material. Stone was used for the masonry plinth, the retaining walls on the south side, and the lower wall facing of the inner courtyard. The exterior walls are faced with rectangular dressed stones carrying raised arabesque designs. The southern terraces have covered fronts and lattice windows fitted with coloured glass. Turquoise brick latticework, circular columns, carved veranda capitals, pointed and semicircular arches, ornamental arches, coloured tiles, and patterned ceilings enrich the building.

The ceilings combine brick and gypsum mortar with structural and decorative arches. Pointed, semicircular, and three-part arches are present. The three-part forms are decorative, while concealed arches within the walls carry weight where necessary. The arches use a Roman-style technique and are emphasized with projecting brickwork and small coloured tiles.

The room roofs were designed to look approximately domed inside while remaining flat and even above. Pointed arches were first built on supports about 75 centimetres high. Triangular infilling or vault construction between the arches created the domed interior effect, while lightweight material and broken brick filled the spaces above the arches beneath the flat roof.

Floors and roof conservation

All the castle walls are load-bearing and decorated with evenly sized semicircular blind arches. The original floors in the rooms, courtyard, and roof used brick laid over mud-and-lime mortar. During restoration, the mortar was replaced with sand-and-cement mortar.

Roof conservation addressed moisture penetration while retaining the historic appearance. Earlier brick paving and straw-and-mud mortar were removed, followed by the application of bitumen, an asphalt layer approximately three centimetres thick, a waterproofing membrane, and a second asphalt layer. The brick-paved surface was then reinstated.