Скачать или смотреть Zoroastrian fire temple in Atashghah near Isfahan, Iran.MPG

The Atashgah of Isfahan is a Sassanid-era archaeological complex located on a hill of the same name about eight kilometers west of city center of Isfahan, Iran.One part of the complex, on the southern flank of the hill are the remains of a citadel of about twenty buildings (or rooms within buildings), many of which—particularly those in the lower half of cluster—are however only evident as foundation traces. Several buildings in the cluster have a classic char taq "four arch" floor-plan, characteristic of Zoroastrian fire-temples of the 3rd century onwards and that are the actual atashgahs that housed sacred fires. Other buildings include what may have been storage rooms and living quarters for priests and affluent pilgrims. A tentative identification of the purpose of the ruins was first made in 1937 by Andre Godard, but it was not until until 1960, when architect Maxine Siroux made the first drawings, that the site could be properly studied. Godard's identifications were subsequently confirmed by Klaus Schippman in 1971.
Another feature of the complex are the remains of a tower-like circular building on the very top of the same hill. This structure, which was once at least twenty meters high, is known by the local populace as the Burj-i Gurban, or Burj-i Kurban,"Tower of Sacrifice," and appears to have been a military watch-tower with a flare that could be lit to warn of an approaching enemy .