Map of Iran and surrounding countries, showing location of Firouzabad.

Gōr city. The circular plan of cities was a so called trademark of Parthian architecture and planning.

Firouzabad (Sassanid Middle Persian Gōr, post-Arab invasion Fīrūzābād) is a city in Iran. It is located in Fars Province south of Shiraz. It is one of the most attractive yet least known of Iranian tourist attractions. Reproduction of a Parthian warrior as depicted on Trajans Column The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Origins Bust of Parthian soldier, Esgh-abad Museum, Turkmenia. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... Iran (Persian: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia. ... External links Official website of Fars Governorship Categories: Iran geography stubs | Provinces of Iran ... Geography Shiraz (شیراز in Persian) is a city in southwest Iran with 1,050,000 inhabitants (1996 census). ...

Alexander of Macedonia destroyed the original city of Gōr. Centuries later, Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid Dynasty, revived the city before it was ransacked in the Arab invasion of the seventh century. Bust of Alexander III in the British Museum. ... Ardashir I (Artaxerxes, Artaxares, Artashastra) was the founder of the Sassanian Empire of Persia and king from around 226 until around 240. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate...

Firuzabad is situated in a low-lying area of the region, so Alexander was able to drown the city by directing the flow of a river into the city. The lake he created remained until Ardashir I built a tunnel to drain it. He founded his new capital city on this site. Bust of Alexander III in the British Museum. ... Ardashir I (Artaxerxes, Artaxares, Artashastra) was the founder of the Sassanian Empire of Persia and king from around 226 until around 240. ...

Ardeshir's new city was known as Kūh Ardeshīr, Ardeshīr Khurah and Shāhr-ī Gōr. It had a circular plan so precise in measurement that the Persian historian Ibn Balkhi wrote it to be "devised using a compass". It was protected by a trench 50 meters in width, and was 2 kilometers in diameter. The city had four gates; to the north was the Hormoz Gate, to the south the Ardeshir Gate, to the east the Mithra Gate and to the west the Bahram Gate. The royal capital's compounds were constructed at the center of a circle 450m in radius. At the center point of the city was a Zoroastrian fire temple 30m high and spiral in design, which is thought to have been the architectural predecessor of the great Samarra Mosque of Iraq. Ardashir I (Artaxerxes, Artaxares, Artashastra) was the founder of the Sassanian Empire of Persia and king from around 226 until around 240. ... Persia or Persian most often refer to: Persia The Persians, an ethnic group, also called Tajiks Persian language Persian (Pokémon) See also Iranian, Iranian peoples, Iranian languages and Aryan. ... Mitra is an important deity of Persian and Indic culture; he appears in the Vedas as one of the Adityas, a solar deity and the god of honesty, friendship, and contracts. ... Zoroastrianism was adapted from an earlier, polytheistic faith by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) in Persia very roughly around 1000 BC (although, in the absence of written records, some scholars estimates are as late as 600 BC). ... The two Shiite mosques in Samarra A soldier descends a Minaret in Samarra, Iraq. ... A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. ...

At the center of the circular city was the spiral fire temple tower, the architectural precedent of the great spiral of the Samarrah Mosque in Iraq.

The city was destroyed in the Arab invasion before it was revived again in the reign of Azdoddoleh of the Deylamid dynasty, who overpowered the Arab caliphs and began developing areas left in ruin by the Arab soldiers. Since then, the city has been called Firuzabad (Middle Persian Fīrūzābād). A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. ... Arab (disambiguation). ... An Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah, Caliph (  listen?) is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Arab (disambiguation). ...

Among the attractions of the city are the Ghal'eh Dokhtar, the Palace of Ardeshir, and the fire temple tower among the remains of Gōr.

The people of modern Firuzabad are mostly descendents of the Qashqai. They used to live along the Amu Darya River before fleeing before Genghiz Khan to Fars. Qashqai (also spelled Ghashghai, Qashqay, Kashgai and Qashqai). ... The Amu Darya (Darya means river) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large delta. ... Genghis Khan (Mongolian: Чингис Хаан, Jenghis Khan, Jinghis Khan, Chinghiz Khan, Jinghiz Khan, Chinggis Khan, Changaiz Khan, original name Temüjin, Temuchin, Mongolian: Тэмүүжин) (c. ... External links Official website of Fars Governorship Categories: Iran geography stubs | Provinces of Iran ...

See also

• Fars Cultural Heritage Organization (http://www.farsmiras.ir/)
• Ghal'eh Dokhtar in Firuzabad.
• Palace of Ardeshir in Firuzabad.
• Bishapur