Qal’eh Dokhtar or Dokhtar Castle (Qiz Qalasi)

Qal’eh Dokhtar or Dokhtar Castle is located in the Achaemenid part of Miyaneh city (in East Azerbaijan province). The exact date, reason, and purpose of the construction of this castle are not known and there exist many legends in this regard. According to some of these legends Ardashir I (the founder of the Sasanian Empire of Iran) made it as a prison for the rebellious princess; it was built in the early Sassanid period; its construction is related to the 7th century AH; the castle was built by a merchant to protect his daughters from the Mongols; it was a temple for worshipping the goddess Nahid or Anahita - the guardian of water; it was built during the Mongol Ilkhanid Dynasty; and, it was constructed by Sasan, one of the famous commanders of Sassanid king, Babak Khorramdin, and so on.

Dokhtar Castle has two entrances and is built in the shape of an irregular polygon of stone and clay near Pol-Dokhtar Bridge and on a rock and has three parts: 1 - The exterior wall (which was guarded by 24 watchtowers of the castle); 2 - Inner wall (that protected the main part of the castle); and 3 - The inner part of the castle (command post of the fort). There exist two large water sources and several water wells in the middle of the castle.

In addition to Dokhtar Castle of Miyaneh, there are other dokhtar castles in other cities and regions of Iran such as Kerman, Firouzabad, Fereshtegan and Fahlian of the Fars Province, Khorasan, Qom, Shahrestanak of Tehran, Chalous, Nain, the Bushehr Province, Aligudarz, Saveh, etc., most of which have built on hills and impassable points with a strong defensive position and are characterized with the features of pre-Islamic buildings.