Sang Castle

Iran, Iran

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Sang Castle is a historic fortress located near the city of Sirjan in Kerman Province, Iran, about seven kilometers northeast of the modern urban center.

The site, whose old name was Barkuh and later “Hajr Abiyad” (White Stone), developed around a large white limestone rock that dominates the surrounding plain and gave the fortress its visual identity. Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that Sang Castle was originally built during the Sasanian Empire and served as an early settlement and defensive stronghold for the people of Sirjan, making it one of the oldest known centers of the city’s history.

The complex covers roughly 30 hectares today, though it likely once extended over 85 hectares, and is enclosed by two mud-brick ramparts that follow the contours of the rocky core and the adjacent flat terrain. Among the most notable surviving features is a white marble podium or minbar inscribed in thuluth script with the date 789 CE (Islamic calendar), showing that the site remained significant during the Islamic period.

Today, Sang Castle is an open archaeological site and tourist attraction that illustrates how Sirjan’s urban center shifted over time from this ancient fortified location to its present position, while the limestone rock and ruined walls continue to mark the memory of the city’s earliest phase.