South octagon vault of the
Takht-i Suleyman

The Takht-i Suleyman (Throne of Salomon) is situated in a wide valley at an altitude of approx. 2000 m, ca. 30 km North of Takab, N.W. of Tehran. The Sassanian sanctuary here flourished in the 5th and 6th century and was one of the three main fire sanctuaries. After the Islamic conquest it remained important as a Zoroastrian temple until the 9th century. In the 13th century the Ilkhanid ruler Abaqa (1265-1281) constructed a summer palace on the southern part of the ruins, partly based on the same layout and using former construction material. As the Mongol court was used to living in tents, the construction of the palace was not made for eternity and soon fell to ruins. In the ruins of the western part of the palace a plate has been found, which was recognized as a construction plan for a muqarnas vault. In analogy to this plan, Ulrich Harb proposed a possible plan to reconstruct the much simpler south octagon vault [6]. This plan is the base of our construction.

This animation [180kB] blends between Harb's plan and our construction.