Tughrul Tower

Tughrul Tower is one of the prides of Medieval Iranian Architecture, located at the most southern point of the capital, Tehran.

It is one of the most neglected of Tehran attractions, both by tourists and officials. The mysteries about the people buried there, the unclear duty of the tower, and still questionable overall shape of this building can keep you bewildered for a long time.

The Tower’s shape follows specific mathematical and geometrical rules that are still wonderful to realization.

Follow Iran travel guide article on Tughrul Tower to get to know this mystic building better.

Overlook of Tughrul Tower

Accessibility:  In order to get to Tughrul Tower, you can get on Line 1 of Tehran Metro (Red Line), and get off at Share Rey station. from there get into a bus and get off at Ibne Baviyeh Shrine.

Or get yourself to Railway square bus terminal. from there get into a bus leading to Shahre Rey and get off at Imam Zadeh Abdollah.

Open days and hours: Tughrul Tower is open Thursdays to Sundays, from 8A.M to 5P.M. (national celebrations might affect these hours)

Tughrul Tower is closed on Mondays.

Entrance fee: 100,000 RLS

Summary of Iranian Architecture, Tughrul Tower

Tughrul Tower is one of the few buildings left from the Seljuq Dynasty, 10th B.C. This Tower is located at south of Tehran, in Rey county.

Long before Tehran becomes the Capital, Rey was on the wealthiest and most thriving cities of the Silk Road at the heart of the Persian Empire.

Tughrul tower is the burial place to Tughrul Beik, one of the Seljug kings and the tower is named after him.

Tower of Tughrul’s Usage

Tughrul Tower is 20 meters high and 12 meters in diameter. Unlike most of the towers, this one wasn’t designed for protection. The main purpose of this tower was to direct the travelers during night, by lighting a fire at the top of it.

Also, the architecture of this building is so precise and accurate, that it could be used as a giant solar clock and tell you the exact time during the day. The exterior shape is that of a polygon with 24 angles. When the sun rises, it alights the most eastern jag. After 30 minutes, half of the second one is alight and at the second hour, the second jag is alight and so on. Finally, at noon, the sun will be exactly at the top of the entrances.

Another wonder of Iranian Architecture manifested in Tughrul tower is that people could determine the exact day of every month, from the shadows cast by the jags of Tughrul Tower.

Domeless Tower of Tughrul

What is interesting about this tower, is that the top of this building is open. Some believe that the dome has been destructed as the years went by, but judging from the water drainage located exactly at the center of the tower, some experts think that the original design was domeless.

Tughrul Tower has been restored and reconstructed twice. The first time during the Qajar era, and the second one during the 1990s. But unfortunately, the first time that it was mended, most of the original brickwork and the original tablet which was set the top of the entrance, and were manifests of Iranian architecture during the medieval time, were altered or removed.