Parthian style (Iranian architecture)

The "Parthian style" is a style (sabk) of historical Iranian architecture

Iranian architecture

Iranian architecture or Persian architecture is the architecture of Iran . It has a continuous history from at least 5000 BCE to the present, with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey to North India and the borders of China and from the Caucasus to Zanzibar...

.

This style of architecture includes designs from the Seleucid, Parthian

Parthian Empire

The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...

, and Sassanid eras, reaching its apex of development by the Sassanid period.

Examples of this style are Ghal'eh Dokhtar

Ghal'eh Dokhtar

Ghal'eh Dokhtar or Qala-e-Dokhtar, also known as The Maiden Castle, is a castle made by Ardashir I, in present day Fars, Iran, in 209 AD. It is located on a mountain slope near the Firouzabad-Shiraz road....

, the royal compounds at Nysa

Nisa, Turkmenistan

Nisa was an ancient city, located near modern-day Bagir village, 18 km northwest of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.Nisa is described by some as one of the first capitals of the Parthians. It was traditionally founded by Arsaces I Nisa (also Parthaunisa) was an ancient city, located near modern-day...

, Anahita Temple

Anahita Temple

The Anahita Temple is the name of one of two archaeological sites in Iran popularly thought to have been attributed to the ancient deity Anahita. The larger and more widely known of the two is located at Kangāvar in Kermanshah Province...

, Khorheh

Mahallat

Mahallat is a city in and the capital of Mahallat County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 35,319, in 10,285 families....

, Hatra

Hatra

Hatra is an ancient city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. It is currently known as al-Hadr, a name which appears once in ancient inscriptions, and it was in the ancient Iranian province of Khvarvaran. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul.-History:Hatra...

, the Ctesiphon vault of Kasra

Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...

, Bishapur

Bishapur

thumb|Irano-Roman floor mosaic detail from the palace of [[Shapur I]] at BishapurBishapur is an ancient city situated south of modern Faliyan, Iran on the ancient road between Persis and Elam. The road linked the Sassanid capitals Istakhr and Ctesiphon...

, and the Palace of Ardashir

Palace of Ardashir

Castle of Ardeshir e Babakan , also known as the Atash-kadeh آتشکده, is a castle located on the slopes of the mountain on which Ghal'eh Dokhtar is situated on. Built in AD 224 by Ardashir I of the Sassanian Empire, it is located two kilometres north of the ancient city of Gor, i.e...

in Ardeshir Khwarreh

Firouzabad

Firuzabad is a city in and the capital of Firuzabad County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 58,210, in 12,888 families.Firuzabad is located south of Shiraz. The town is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch....

(Firouzabad).

The Parthi style of architecture appeared after Alexander of Macedonia's conquest of the Persian Empire in the 3rd century BCE, and historically includes the Sassanid, Parthian, and post Islamic eras, up to the 9-10th centuries. The remains of the architectural style of this period are not abundant, and although much was borrowed and incorporated from Greek designs and methods, architects and builders of this age employed many innovative concepts of their own as well.

See also