Kangawar

BW

Kangavar (Persian کنگاور; Kangavar, in ancient times Congobar ) refers to both a city a circle in the province of Kermanshah in Iran. Kangavar is the largest town in the very fertile Kangavartal. The city is located on the Hamadan to Kermanshah from.

The historical monument of Kangavar

Kangavar is also the site of a historic monument whose entire area occupies about 4.6 ha. The remains 're at and around a 224 x 209 m wide, built of massive blocks of slate platform whose area is up to 32 m above the underlying uneven ground. Were located on two sides, two staircases, over which one got to the platform, and from which one can see to this day the whole Kangavartal. At three edges of the platform once stood a row of 3.5 m high Ionic columns. Is located on the still existing columns no indication of a roof construction. In the middle of the platform once stood a 93 m by 9.30 m high building, which probably consisted of wood and of which only the ground plan ( in the form of post holes ) is apparent.

Until the early 1980s it was generally believed that the plant was one that was mentioned in the reports of Isidore of Charax as ' Temple of Artemis ' ( Mansiones Parthicae 6). 1840, the construction of two Frenchmen was (Eugène Flandin and Pascal Coste ) visited people to make some sketches, and the ruins brought the mention of Isidore in conjunction, and based on this the 1 / 2 Century AD dated. Since Artemis was the Greek name of the Zoroastrian Anahita, the references in Isidore was accordingly interpreted as a ' temple of Anahita '.

Systematic excavations have only been held since 1968, and already in the preliminary reports from 1972 it was clarified that the plant due to lack of certain structural and architectural features can not be identified as a religious building (for example, the lack of a water basin, which would be mandatory for a Anahitatempels required). A final report of 1981, the identification was classified as a temple to be extremely doubtful, and one came to the conclusion that the plant mentioned by Isodoros somewhere must be different. A positive identification of the purpose of the system was based on the ( defects of ) archaeological finds also not feasible. Although the dating of the building was also placed in the Parthian period in question ( and, instead, in the Sassanid period (3-7 c.) Before offset ), the dating of the entire system also remains unclear, because coins and shards of pottery from the Parthian period ( as well as from Sassanian and Islamic periods ) were also found. At one end of the platform settlement remains have been found from the Islamic period, so that it can be assumed that the masonry were used for residential buildings, at least at this time and at this point. According to the French drawings they must have been still used in the 19th century as such.

Officially, the property is considered a " historical monument of Kangavar, " and in the proposal include the area in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ruins are only circumscribed "as the Temple of Anahita famous monument ". The tourism industry praises the ruins continue as a " temple of Anahita " or " Artemis. "