Myths of Takht- e Suleiman!

Takht- e Suleiman, which was once known as “Shiz”, is a historical square, in North West of Iran, near Takab town of Azerbaijan province. This ancient area which is registered by UNESCO is a mysterious and weird land and many legendary and imaginary stories are told about this place. Takht- e Suleiman includes remains of monuments related to Sassanid and Ilkhanate dynasty but this area has also been a center for religion and culture during Achaemenid and Parthian era and its antiquity dates back to 3000 years ago. It is said that Takht- e Suleiman has been the birthplace of the Zoroaster!

The remains of a Sassanid palace and a fire temple named “Azargoshnasb” are most important monuments remaining in Takht- e Suleiman and the arches which are the symbols of Sassanid style in architecture are recognizable. “Azargoshnasb” fire temple has been so valuable to Sassanid kings that they used to walk to this place from Ctesiphon (the capital of Iran during Sassanid era) after their coronation ceremony, to show gratitude.

There is a conical hill near Takht- e Suleiman, with a huge hole about 100 meters deep on top, known as Solomon's prison. Local people believe that Solomon (Suleiman) imprisoned the devil in this bottomless hole!

“Belquis” Mount is also located around this area and fortifications related to Sassanid era are available on the top.

The most wonderful attraction in Takht- e Suleiman is a vast water spring that the Persian kings, like the great Cyrus, dropped precious objects into that as a present for Anahita, the goddess of water. They sometimes dropped their treasurable objects into this deep water to hide them from the enemies. There is a myth about Salomon the prophet creating this spring with his cane, but this water spring is originally a crater and the water contains a high percent of salt and sediment, so it cannot be used for drinking and agriculture. The weird thing about this spring is that it swallows everything and no one could ever swim in this water! 

.Takht- e Suleiman and Belquis mount in winter