Zanjan

Rakhtshooy Khaneh Edifice

Rakhtshooy Khane which translates to “Wash-house” is a unique underground Edifice built in the 20^th century, where locals used to wash their clothes in. Clear clean water flows through the vessels cut in the floor of the building. Rakhtshooy Khaneh is now used as the Zanjan Museum of Anthropology.

Behestan Castle

Behestan Castle is located 120km northwest of Zanjan and is hard to reach from the city, but it is well worth the drive. This ancient monstrous castle dates to the Median Empire and is carved out of the mountain. The rooms are connected to each other by a labyrinth of handmade caves.

Dome of Soltaniyeh

The Dome of Soltaniyeh in Soltaniyeh city, Zanjan Province, traditionally so called, is a complex of ruins centering on the Mausoleum of the Mongol ruler Il-khan Öljeitü, also known as Muhammad Khodabandeh.

The main building, erected between 1302 and 1312 AD, may have the oldest double-shell dome in Iran, a view of the construction made by Dieulafoy, but this has been disputed by André Godard. In Godard’s view, it is a normal, if spectacularly large dome, with a thin skin on top for the faience, and is not a double dome. However, its importance in the Muslim world is undoubted and it may be compared to that of Brunelleschi’s cupola for Christian architecture. It is one of the largest brick domes in the world, just at the theoretical engineering limit for a brick dome and the third largest dome in the world after the domes of Florence Cathedral and Hagia Sophia. The Dome of Soltaniyeh paved the way for more daring Iranian-style cupola constructions in the Muslim world, such as the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi and the Taj Mahal. Much of its exterior decoration has been lost, but the interior retains superb mosaics, faience, and murals. People have described the architecture of the building as “anticipating the Taj Mahal.”