Bam Citadel, named as Arg-e Bam in Farsi, is the largest adobe structure in the world occupying an area of 180,000 square meters. The Citadel of Bam dates back more than 2,500 years and is located in the city of Bam less than 200 kilometers in the southeast of Kerman.
This citadel and the cultural landscape of Bam were inscribed as a world heritage site by UNESCO under the name "Bam and its cultural landscape" in 2004 one year after the devastating earthquake of magnitude 6.6 Richter which survived Bam citadel of miraculous way. Although the damage was significant, experts did not hesitate to start the restoration and thanks to your majestic work today, a visit to the Bam citadel is possible for the public.
Arg-e Bam along with Rayen Castle, Shazdeh Garden and the cultural landscape of Meymand are the tourist attractions of Kerman.
Although there is no precise dating dating of the construction of Bam Citadel, but ancient texts and historical sources indicate that the Bam Fortress was built during the Achaemenid Empire between 600 to 300 B.C. Archaeologists believe that new fortifications and new walls were built when the citadel was captured by Ardeshir Babakan during Sasanian's reign between 200 and 700 BC.
According to historians, although the Mongol invasion reached the Kerman region and they ruled the city of Bam for more than a century, the region had the benefit of connecting to the spice route that connected the region with the Silk Road. Bam was famous for the breeding of silkworms and a flourishing silk industry. Later Bam had a great development during the Safavid era due to stability and relative calm.
The conquest of the city of Bam by the first king of Qajar, Agha Mohammad Khan, and other events made Bam not unimportant in Iran's history. Due to the presence of military personnel residing within the citadel area, local people began moving from Arg-e Bam and moving to other parts of the city or Iran from 1850.
In 2003 a devastating earthquake destroyed more than 70% of the citadel. Due to being a World Heritage Site many countries such as France, Italy, Japan and etc., participated in the restructuring of Arg-e Bam.
The great architects and researchers have discovered that the architectures of the world's largest adobe structure had a sophisticated plan and a fairly clear idea to build it from scratch. Bam Citadel Castle has been built in the best position to have the best strategic views for military and defense actions. It is interesting to know that the citadel has more than 60 towers.
The structure of the Bam citadel can be divided into two main parts, the government section and the residential section.
The government sector is positioned in the middle of the citadel and has a four-station mansion, several barracks, a military fortress, a water well, stables and walls seven meters high and almost two kilometers long.
The residential sector as indicated was where the inhabitants lived together with the public places. The Bam citadel had 400 houses which were of three types, some small houses, others large for middle class people and others luxurious with porch, patio and stable.
During your visit to Iran, do not miss the opportunity to visit Kerman and Bam Citadel, which is one of the items on the "What to visit in Kerman" list and is also normally included in Kerman and Iran tour packages. , especially on Iran cultural tours. Although it is a historical site, normally Iran tour operators such as Iran Negin Travel include city of Bam on their eco-trips to Iran, adventure trips to Iran, religious trips to Iran and etc.
Our cultural tours to Iran are mostly the option to explore Bam Citadel in Kerman.
07:00 - 17:30
500.000 IRR