Bishapur city
A ancient and important city, that is located in Kazerun of Fars province With an area of 200sq.m, which the most important point about Bishapur city, is the combination of Persian and Roman art and architecture that hadn't been seen before Bishapur construction. Before the city was built, almost all the main cities in Iran had a circular shape like the old city in Firuzabad or Darab. This is the first city with vertical and horizontal streets also in the city specially in interior design we can see tile work that's adapted from Roman Art.
History of Bishapur
According to an inscription, the city itself was founded in 266 AD by Shapur I, who was the second Sassanid king and inflicted a triple defeat on the Romans, having killed Gordian III, captured Valerian and forced Philip the Arab to surrender.
In his native province, Shapur built a new capital that would measure up to his ambitions: Bishapur city. Outside the city, Shapur decorated the sides of the River gorge with huge historical relief commemorating his triple triumph over Rome. One of these reliefs, in a semicircular shape, has rows of registers with files of soldiers and horses, in a deliberate imitation of the narrative scenes on the Trajan column in Rome.
Architecture of city of Bishapur
The city was designed based on the engineering method that has innovated by Hippodamus, the father of European urban planning. This city included two main street, which interrupted each other. One of the streets was north-south, and the other one is east-west. At the point of Intersection, Bishapur was surrounded by walls, about 10 meters high and also there are two high columns which contain valuable inscriptions. This city had four gates which the western gate was the main entrance gate. The core of this city was an old castle built on a steep rock which is one of the most interesting geological features of southern Zagros.
This ancient city has a rectangular plan with a grid pattern of regular intra urban streets, resembling Roman city design. This design of this city was never repeated in the architecture of Iran.
Attractions of Bishapur
One of the most unique buildings in this city is Anahita Temple. Not only architecturally fabulous, but also really impressive by the means of controlling and dividing water in the building without hearing the the water flowing in the temple. This temple of water (as Anahita was the goddess of water or the protector angel of water), is a square of 14 by 14 meters, built 6 meters under the ground level to have the water of the river flowing inside it and let it out through a well hidden well. There were two symmetric bull capitals, imitated the ones in Persepolis, over the walls of the temple.
