Kharanaq | an Abandoned city in a historical village in Yazd province

Where is Kharanaq?

IRAN Tour Packages | Kharanaq is a 4500 years old village, located in Ardakan, 85 kilometers out of Yazd city. The village is divided into two old and new parts, most of the residents live in the new part of the village.   The word “Kharanaq” is the perverted word “Hournah“, means: The place where the sun rises. The village is also known as the birth place of Iran’s sun due to the meaning of the original name of the village.

Kharanaq Attractions

Kharanaq is well-known because of the animal protected area and the ancient monuments, specially castles; It may be interesting to know that the biggest residential castles of Yazd province are located in Kharanaq.
Attractions of this beautiful village are: Kharanaq Castle, bath, carvansarai, cistern, bridge, mosque and minaret.

Kharanaq Castle

Kharanaq castle is one of the biggest residential castles of Yazd, involving 80 houses which most of them are built in two or three floors. These houses were considered in proportion to the economic and social situation of the people. Six watchtowers, one in the North and the other in the Southwest of the castle, and four other towers on the West front, are attached to the castle’s hull. In addition to the watch towers, there are deep ditches dug out around the castle to come upon the thieves and protect the people living in the castle.
Some say that the castle was built during the Sassanid era. The unique labyrinthine alleys in this castle was always the center of attention. The reason to build the castle with a plan like this, was to come upon the thieves.
Houses have domed roofs made of fiber, mats, wood and straw; and the walls of the castle are made from clay and mud as every other ancient buildings in Yazd province.

Kharanaq Carvansarai

The carvansarai was built during the Sassanid era but as some parts of it were destroyed in time, it was restored during Qajar dynasty and that’s why the courtyard building is built in Abbasi style (a kind of style in Iranian architecture which was popular in Qajar era). The building involves 4 timchee (means: small carvansarai) and the yard is surrounded by rooms and crescent vaults.
The roof of the Timchee is covered with bricks, if someone knocks on the ground in the middle, Timchee-shaped dome ceiling will repeat the voice in an interesting way for a few moments. The plastering, brickwork and tiling of this building are very beautiful and artistic. Kharanqaq carvanserai was restored again during the present years and if you travel to Kharanq, you can stay there for as long as you want to wander in this beautiful village.

Kharanq bath

The bath of Kharanaq village is a relic of the Qajar period. This historic bath is located in Kharanaq caravanserai near agricultural farms. One of it’s key features is the principled and skillful design of the water and sewage inlet and outlet system for optimal use of water resources. The bath is built in such a way that the water of the canat’s (subterranean cannals) are easily directed into it. This bathroom consists of two parts, small and large, and it has all the elements of Iranian baths such as entrance, porch, dressing room, middle room, warm well and etc. The walls are made of thick bricks and some holes are made in the roof of the bathroom in order to allow the light enter into the building.

Kharanaq Bridge

Documents show that the bridge was built during the Parthians period to transfer water from one side to the other side of “Kal river” and it was never a structure for commuting.
This bridge has a length of 40 meters and a height of 7.5 meters and in it’s construction, Sassanid and Roman architectural methods have been used. Stone, mortar and saruj are the main materials used in it. The bridge has four arched openings made of stone and plaster.
Kal river is no more watery and the bridge has became a place for tourists to take pictures.

Kharanaq’s Mosque and Husseiniyeh

It is a Shabestani planned mosque connected to the Husseiniyeh. The Shabestan is still in use and also there is a smaller mosque out of the Kharanq castle, right in front of the gate.
The Husseiniyeh is connected to the south east part of the polygonal mosque.

Kharanaq’s Minaret

One out of three vacillatory minarets in Iran is located in the Northern side of the mosque. It is built of clay during the Sassanid era and completed in Seljuq dynasty and it is the only all clay minaret in Iran. The minaret was a watchtower in the past and is older than It’s mosque. You can see it moving vividly, even with a hand movement on it.
This minaret is built in three floors and has two separate staircase spiral path. The lower stairs are 60 to 70 cm wide and the higher you go, the narrower they get, reaching 40 to 50 cm. With a height of 15 meters, this minaret is the tallest structure in Kharanaq village, Yazd.

Mashhadak mausoleum

The mausoleum is located in the cemetery of the city and it is believed it was the place that Ali ibn Musa ar-Reza’s (the eighth Shi’te Imam) has prayed there when he was on his way to Marv city. Because of this story and the reason he is buried in Mashhad city, the mausolem is called Mashhadak.

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Source: Wikipedia