TEHRAN – Izadkhast fortress, a Sassanid era (224–651) fortification in southern province of Fars, will undergo some rehabilitation works in the near future, CHTN reported. 

A budget of 2 billion rials (some $50,000) has been allocated to the project, which includes reinforcement of foundation and exterior walls as well as covering parts of the fortress with cob material, provincial tourism official Abdolreza Nasiri said on Monday. 

Izadkhast fortress, which was built on the ancient Silk Road between Isfahan and Shiraz, is the first fortress in the world that is made of adobe. It is also the second-largest adobe building in the world after Arg-e Bam (Bam Citadel) in the southeastern province of Kerman. 

From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest.
Fortifications in antiquity were designed primarily to defeat attempts at escalade, and to defense of territories in warfare, and were also used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime. 

Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today’s archaeologists.

ABU/MG