Nassouri’s Castle: An Early Qajar Fortress in Iran
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Iran
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Qajar
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
History
Nassouri’s Castle is an early Qajar-period fortress in Bandar-e Taheri, Iran, commissioned by Sheikh Jabbar Nasouri approximately 180 years ago. The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, and its architecture combined traditional Iranian forms with elaborate plaster, tile, painted, and carved decoration. The architect of the castle was Ali Asghar Shirazi.
The castle is also known as Sheikh Castle and forms part of the historical heritage of Bandar-e Taheri in Bushehr Province. It was registered as an Iranian National Heritage site under registration number 3513.
Remains
The complex is identified as both a hill and a castle. Its walls and other structural elements use large stones bonded with mud and plaster. The principal entrance faces south toward the Persian Gulf. A large wooden door, fitted with iron studs and carved ornament, opens into a hashti, a traditional Iranian entrance vestibule that forms a transition between the doorway and the courtyard. The vestibule contains eight simple niches and leads into the outer courtyard.
On the northern side of the outer courtyard, stairs rise to the second floor. A simple wooden door connects this area with the inner quarters, while another staircase ascends from the western side. The second floor includes a columned iwān, a roofed hall open on one side, supported by stone columns and enriched with plasterwork. Five wooden doors lead from the iwān into a room on its western side.
The western room has plaster decoration composed of floral and foliage motifs. A staircase on its western side continues upward through the castle. The building also retains windcatchers, traditional ventilation towers that capture and channel air to help cool interiors in the hot coastal climate of the Persian Gulf.
Qajar decorative work appears in plaster panels depicting branches, flowers, foliage, angels, and birds. The treatment and carving of the columns and arches are compared with the architectural elements of Vakil Bazaar, the historic covered marketplace in Shiraz.