MEHRPADIN CASTLE

Iran, Iran

---

Mehrpadin Castle is a large, historic fortified complex located in the town of Mehrpadin (sometimes called Mehriz County), about 30 kilometers south of Yazd in Iran’s Yazd Province.

The castle measures roughly 160 by 148 meters and is built with two concentric defensive brick walls about six meters high, nine circular towers up to around 8–8.5 meters tall, and a wide moat surrounding the entire structure. Inside, the walls enclose houses, a governor’s seat, religious buildings, stables, storehouses, and even small fruit and vegetable gardens, allowing many people to live there temporarily during danger.

Its age is debated: some historians date it to the Safavid era, while others place it in the time of the Muzaffarids (8th century AH, 14th century) and link its construction to the development of the town of Mehrpadin itself. A popular local story says that after a Mongol attack that killed the people of nearby Mehrijerd, one infant was spared and raised in Saryazd; when he grew up, he built Mehrpadin Castle so that villagers could be protected from future raids, using signals like smoke or flashing light to call neighboring castles for help.