Toghrol Tower in Tehran

About Toghrol Tower in Tehran province

(in IRAN)

 The most ancient monument the town, Gonabad-e Sorkh or the Red Tower of 1147-8 AD, situated in the south west of the town, was built by the order of Sad Badim, the then ruler of Azarbaijan, according to a northern front Kuffic inscription

 

In the lower part of the structure, there is a crypt where a tomb can be seen. The monument is square; with its exceptionally beautiful blue tile and kiln-fired brick works and fine plaster moldings in a geometrical design. The entrance portal is on of the northern side of the structure, where seven steps lead to the tomb chamber and the crypt. Godard remarks on its historical importance for the first known appearance of glazed ornament on the exterior of a monument in northern Iran. The Red Tower also provides the most exciting solution in Iran to the problem of the squinch. It is not, of course, proven (too many monuments have been destroyed for us to tell) but it seems likely that the squinch- a corner arch connecting two walls at right angels – may be a Sassanian invention. If so, the dome of London`s Cathedral of St Paul`s (and all other domes before or since) is a development of this principle. The concept of squinch grew from the aesthetic urge to set a circular dome on square walls, squinches supporting the dome in each of the four corners. Roman engineers never solved this problem at all. Another outstanding decorative feature of the monument is the combination of turquoise colored and blue enameled tiles on a brick background

...YES! IRAN IS BEAUTIFUL