After passing through winding and spectacular roads where the sky changed its color and shape with every turn, I watched the old and tired building of Takht-e Soleyman.
A city that is located above the mountains, as if you can reach the stars and touch the divine from any point. A city known as the birthplace of Zoroaster. After more than three thousand years, this building has survived all the ages and its rulers and still stands as a testament.
At first glance, you feel that there is really a special energy in this part of the world, it is not without reason that countless legends are woven around it.
Takht-e Soleyman is an ancient city that dates back to the Parthian, Iron Age, I, II and III periods. The seat of power of the Scythian, Manaean, Medes, Achaemenid and Parthian rulers. Kings who worshiped near the heavenly throne, charted their course by the stars, and reigned over their armies on mountaintops.
Takht-e Soleyman is a city that seems not only to have its roots in the depths of the earth, but also to have a hidden link with the galaxies.
The mysterious lake at the heart of this ancient city is actually a bubbling spring whose water is thousands of years old coming to the surface of the earth from the primordial chakras of energy.
The great force that seethes from the depths of the earth creates a fountain that looks like the earth is breathing, and as you approach it, you feel a strange energy.
This lake holds countless secrets, from the treasures buried deep within it to its association with the Goddess of Waters.
A cone-shaped and hollow mountain known as Devil’s Mountain or Solomon’s Prison. Legends say that Hazrat Suleiman imprisoned his demons there, that’s why they named it Soleyman’s Prison. Seeing its strange appearance, one believes in this legend and any other strange story.
Soleyman’s Prison, which was a place of worship for Zoroastrian monks during the Sassanid era, was once full of water like Lake Takht-e Soleyman, a place for the stars to dance in the darkness of the night.
Takht-e Soleyman, which reached the height of its power and glory during the Sassanid era, hosted the fire temple of Azargoshnasp inside it. A fire temple with two adjacent halls, one dedicated to fire and the other to water.
In one they worshiped fire and in the other water. Where one king after another was purified with water and fire, and many gifts, all coins and gold, shone in the light of its flames.
In the midst of the Temple of Anahita, dedicated to the worship of the goddess of water and fertility, there is a small pool that captures a beautiful reflection of the sky. The water, guided from a spring to the temple in several stages, becomes a mere mirror reflecting the image of the sky.
I didn’t have the time to stay overnight at Takht-e Soleyman and contemplate its stars. I was still in the early stages of this long journey, with the next destination awaiting me. I left a piece of my heart by the treasury of Takht-e Soleyman and bid farewell. I still don’t know whether I will walk in the footsteps of its ancient owners again or not, but my heart is content that I had the opportunity to touch its history once in my life.
Takht-e Soleymān, also known as Adur Gushnasp, is an ancient archaeological site located in West Azerbaijan, Iran, dating back to the Sasanian Empire. Positioned between Urmia and Hamadan, in close proximity to the modern town of Takab, it is situated approximately 400 km west of Tehran.
