Meybod Pigeon Tower

Pigeon towers or dovecotes used to be one of the most common types of buildings in Iran which homed pigeons and were usually built in a circular shape. The towers were built with the aim of collecting birds waste to be used as natural fertilizer in farms or to be used in some industries such as leather industry.

Let's visit one of the masterpieces of Iranian architecture, Meybod Pigeon Tower , which dates back to Qajar dynasty. It is located on southeast of Meybod traditional fort. This round building once homed four thousand pigeons.

The Architecure of Meybod Pigeon Tower

Before we enter the building, the first thing that catches our eyes is façade of the building which is decorated with smooth plaster. Interestingly, this smooth plaster around the wall was to prevent snakes from slithering up into the tower.
In this pigeon tower, pigeons lived in 20 × 20 cm lodgings which were circularly ordered in three rows. There are four turrets and a centric minaret on the roof through which pigeons could exit the tower. Hot color of the mogharnas would attract pigeons to the tower.
Creative architects of the building designed the building as a military fortress which was resistant against prey birds such as hawk, owl.

The tower is round and decorated with special designs from outside and is hexagon with pointed arches. The tower is covered by a hexagon dome which is decorated with molding in the edge. There are four small pillars with the height of 1.5 m which acted as guide pillars.

This tower was designed very artistically and orderly so that the cold wind could fellow inside the tower in the summer; while, it was impermeable against cold wind in the winter. 

Meybod Pigeon Tower in Chardin's Point of View

It is interesting to know that Chardin, the famous French tourist who travelled to Iran in Safavid dynasty, wrote: "I believe that Iran is a country with the best dovecots. These large dovecots are six times larger than our largest incubators".

Visiting Hours of Meybod Pigeon Tower

The pigeon tower is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ticket costs IRR 200,000 for visitors.

Meybod Pigeon Tower was registered in the list of Iran National Monuments on November 30, 1985 with registration No. 1691.
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