Takht-i-Suleiman

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**Takht-e Soleyman**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Identification	#1077
Region²	Asia-Pacific
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	2003 27th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1077
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

For a site located in Balochistan, Pakistan known by the same name, see Takht-e-Sulaiman
For a site located in Osh, Kyrgyzstan known by the same name, see Sulayman Mountain

Takht-e Soleyman, "The Throne of Solomon", (Persian: تخت سليمان) is the holiest shrine of Zoroastrianism and the former Sassanid Empire. On 3 July 2003, twenty-four sites were inscribed by the UNESCO as a collective World Heritage Site; one of these sites was the Takht-e Soleyman. It is located near the modern town of Takab, West Azarbaijan in Iran.

The fortified site is situated in a valley, set amid a mosaic of cultivated fields 250 miles west of Tehran. The site includes the remains of a Zoroastrian sanctuary partially rebuilt during the Ilkhanid period, as well as a temple from the Sassanid ages that was dedicated^{[citation needed]} to Aredvi Sura Anahita (modern Persian Nahid). Like many other sites in Iran such as Firouzabad, the designs of the fire temple, the palace and the general layout are thought to have heavily influenced the development of Islamic architecture.

Legend has it that King Solomon used to imprison monsters inside the 100 m deep crater of the nearby Zendan-e Soleyman "Prison of Solomon". Another crater inside the fortification itself is filled with spring water; Solomon is said to have created a flowing pond that still exists today. A 4th century Armenian manuscript relating to Jesus and Zarathustra, and various historians of the Islamic period, mention this pond. The foundations of the fire temple around the pond is attributed to that legend.

Archaeological excavations have revealed traces of a 5th century BC occupation during the Achaemenid period, as well as later Parthian settlements in the citadel. Coins belonging to the reign of Sassanid kings, and that of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II (AD 408-450), have also been discovered there. According to legend, each potential Sassanid ruler journeyed there to humble himself at the sacred fire altar before ascending the throne.