Western Iran - Iran - page 289

by British agents. The idea was to break Shushtar's trade connections, thus encouraging
locals to seek alternative work at the new (British-owned) oilfields of Masjid-i Soleiman.
Less conspiratorial theories blame rebellions and floods for the bridge's deterioration.
Today the Pol-e Shandravan ruins parallel to a newer Dezful Rd bridge. A park is being
built to landscape the scene.

Qal'eh Saloselلساس هعلق
The historic heart of Shushtar was Salosel Castle , on a prominent cliff-hill overlooking
the river. This is where Shapur I is said to have imprisoned Roman Emperor Valerian. It's
also here that Persians held out for two years against the invading Arab-Muslim armies
until secret tunnels were revealed to the attackers by a traitor. For centuries Khuzestan
was governed from a palace ('Kushk') on this site and an impressive three-storey pyram-
idal building stood here until the 1920s. Sadly, above-ground, only a mound of rubble re-
mains. However, the castle's impressive Sassanian-era subterranean rooms and water
channels have been rediscovered. As yet they are only open on special occasions such as
No Ruz but at such times they are very imaginatively lit.
The site is one long block north of Shahrivar Sq then three minutes' walk to the east.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Imamzadeh Abdullah
Visible from the minibus as you arrive from Ahvaz, this shrine has a white pinecone of a
central tower reminiscent of Daniel's tomb in Shush. A gory local tale records a woman
beheading her own son to swap his head for the skull of a long-dead holy man, which is
now enshrined here as a sacred relic. Colourfully decked with strings of lights, the build-
ing resembles a cruise liner against the evening horizon. At its foot is the small but im-
pressive 11-arched ancient Lashgar Bridge .

IMAMZADEH, SHRINE

Other Sights
A short walk south of the bus terminal, the partly 9th-century Masjid-e Jameh (Jameh
Mosque; Masjid Jameh Lane) has a truncated, gently leaning minaret and sits in a quiet
tree-filled quadrangle of fruit-sellers.
Just beyond Hotel Jahangardi is a great viewpoint beside the octagonal Kola Ferangi
tower , which looks like (and probably was) a stone lighthouse, though local lore relates
that Shapur's slave driver would watch over the Roman prisoners from here surveying
progress on the Band-e Mizan (Sassanid weir) that divided the river to provide water for
the watermills.
Across the water you'll see the blue-domed Seyid Mohammad Golabi Shrine behind
which rises an iwan of the vast new Sheikh Alome Shushtari Shrine . Currently in yel-