Pigeon Tower, Isfahan, Iran 23.3.2013
- 11 years ago
PIGEON TOWER
Pigeon Towers (Burj Kabooter) represent one of the most remarkable examples of peculiarity in Iranian architecture and a spectacular quality of Iranian people. They are found in vast numbers around Isfahan and date from the time immemorial. Sir John Chardin, a French jeweler and traveler who traveled through Isfahan in 1666 & 1673 AD wrote in his Memoires that pigeon dung was thought to be the best fertilizer for the crop of water-melon and cucumber, the most favorite food of Isfahanis since centuries, and the pigeon towers were built to attract pigeons to them so that they would nest in the top and their dung would fall to the bottom. Chardin continues.
There are “above three thousand Pigeon-Houses about Isfahan, all built for the sake of the Dung ... They call it "Tehalgus". It is sold a "bisti" or Four-pence, the Twelve-Pound Weight on which the King lays a small Tax.”
There were thousands of these towers during the Safavid dynasty, during the 16 & 17th century CE. After the fall of the Safavid Dynasty (around 1730 AD), the requirement for water-melons seems to have declined and with it the demand for pigeon dung.
The Pigeon Towers can still be seen throughout Isfahan particularly around the area of Atashgah or Zoroastrian Fire Temple. There are many more on the way to the Isfahan Airport and also several in the countryside to the east of the city. There is even a squire (Roundabout/Piazza) in Isfahan with one in the centre. Some towers are as high as 20 meters. Some are round and some square.
Since old times the buildings were constructed in such a way that the birds were quite comfortable and clean on their roosts as the droppings fell straight onto the floor. The arched patterns and zig-zagged stone near the top of the tower is specially made to prevent snakes from climbing into the holes. The pigeons should feel sheltered and safe. However, in modern times chemically produced fertilizers have drastically reduced the viability of the bird dung industry and as a result not many of these structures have survived to the present day. These days the Pigeon Towers are mainly built or maintained for the welfare of the birds and as a tradition of centuries. The people of the locality pay for the feed of pigeons and other birds and the caretaker of the Pigeon Tower is paid from the public treasury.
Pigeon Towers (Burj Kabooter) represent one of the most remarkable examples of peculiarity in Iranian architecture and a spectacular quality of Iranian people. They are found in vast numbers around Isfahan and date from the time immemorial. Sir John Chardin, a French jeweler and traveler who traveled through Isfahan in 1666 & 1673 AD wrote in his Memoires that pigeon dung was thought to be the best fertilizer for the crop of water-melon and cucumber, the most favorite food of Isfahanis since centuries, and the pigeon towers were built to attract pigeons to them so that they would nest in the top and their dung would fall to the bottom. Chardin continues.
There are “above three thousand Pigeon-Houses about Isfahan, all built for the sake of the Dung ... They call it "Tehalgus". It is sold a "bisti" or Four-pence, the Twelve-Pound Weight on which the King lays a small Tax.”
There were thousands of these towers during the Safavid dynasty, during the 16 & 17th century CE. After the fall of the Safavid Dynasty (around 1730 AD), the requirement for water-melons seems to have declined and with it the demand for pigeon dung.
The Pigeon Towers can still be seen throughout Isfahan particularly around the area of Atashgah or Zoroastrian Fire Temple. There are many more on the way to the Isfahan Airport and also several in the countryside to the east of the city. There is even a squire (Roundabout/Piazza) in Isfahan with one in the centre. Some towers are as high as 20 meters. Some are round and some square.
Since old times the buildings were constructed in such a way that the birds were quite comfortable and clean on their roosts as the droppings fell straight onto the floor. The arched patterns and zig-zagged stone near the top of the tower is specially made to prevent snakes from climbing into the holes. The pigeons should feel sheltered and safe. However, in modern times chemically produced fertilizers have drastically reduced the viability of the bird dung industry and as a result not many of these structures have survived to the present day. These days the Pigeon Towers are mainly built or maintained for the welfare of the birds and as a tradition of centuries. The people of the locality pay for the feed of pigeons and other birds and the caretaker of the Pigeon Tower is paid from the public treasury.