Pir-e Alamdar Tower

Pir-e Alamdar Tower is one of the highlighted examples of the Persian architecture in the fifth century AH. According to the Kufic inscription around the tower, this building was constructed between 417 to 420 A.H. by the order of Abu Harb Bakhtiar ibn Mohammad, the son of Mohammad ibn Ibrahim, for his father. 

Based on the poem by Manouchehri, Abu Harb-e Damghani was the chamberlain of Qabus ibn-Voshmgir’s court, known as “Falak al-Moali”, the king of Al-e Ziar, who took power in Damghan by the order of the king. The tower is located in Khoria neighborhood, near Damghan Grand Mosque, in Shahid Motahhari Street. 

The building is an onion-form corn with thirteen meters height and internal diameters of four and a half meters. The dome has brick and stucco decorations along with Kufic inscription motives in the center. The elongation of letters like Alef (الف) and Laam (لام), in this building is more than they are in the other monumental towers. In addition, different decorative Girih and some pineapple-form motives are seen on the building. There is an inscription inside the tower which has been written in dark-blue cinnabar and Kufic scrip on the stucco. It reads a verse of Surah Az-Zumar in Quran which has been added to the architecture in later periods. The tower is attributed to the Ilkhanate period based on some existing witness, including the remains of a mosque placed next to the tower.