Pigeon Tower of Meybod

In this article, we will examine one of the most different and interesting historical heritages of Iran. A structure that reveals the deep connection between human and nature in the field of history.

Pigeon Tower of Meybod, located in Yazd province in the desert of Iran, is a building that hides mysterious information and characteristics and indicates a long history of human-bird communication.Let's go and take a closer look at this building.

What do you know about pigeon towers?

Humans have been closely related to animals since long ago. Due to the superiority of human intelligence, animals have been at the service of mankind and have used them to meet various needs. One of these connections that can be examined from different aspects is the connection with birds and in this special case, pigeons.

Pigeon has been important for mankind in 3 aspects: 1- food 2- industries and agriculture 3- transfer between humans. Pigeon meat can be eaten among all ethnicities and religions. In addition, pigeon feces has many benefits for the fertility of agricultural land. It is also useful in tanning and gunpowder industries. But the most interesting thing about pigeons is that they are trained to carry letters over long distances, which is called Pigeon post Pigeon posts have been known in most parts of the world for hundreds of years as a reliable, fast and safe way to send important letters over long distances.

Humans in all parts of the world have built places called pigeon towers to gather these three characteristics of pigeons at the same time and due to the need of pigeons to build a nest. Despite the architectural differences, pigeon towers have been created all over the world. But in Iran, these places have double importance; Because Iran is a very vast country and is located in a very important region, which makes it important to send mail safely and quickly.

The history of Meybod Pigeon Tower:

Pigeon towers are common buildings and for this reason there are no specific written texts about the time of their construction. Although according to the type of architecture, some date back the first pigeon towers to the pre-Islam era (1500 years ago). The same thing is true about Meybod Pigeon Tower and researchers attribute this building to the Qajar period. This building has preserved its appearance and strength through successive restorations until today and was registered Iran National Heritage List 2001.Today, this unique structure is considered one of the most special sights of Yazd province.

What are the architectural features of Meybod Pigeon Tower?

This beautiful pigeon tower annually hosts more than50 thousand pigeons in about 4 thousand nests. The building is a circular cylindrical tower with a roof of 8 meters in height, inside which there is an octagonal space on 3 floors. The whole building is made of clay and straw. 4 openings of 1.5 meters have been placed for the entry of pigeons into the interior space. This type of structure design has made the pigeons safe from the intense sunlight and heat of the Iranian desert in the hot seasons and from the bitter cold in the cold seasons.The type of coloring of the inner walls creates a sense of peace among the pigeons. In addition to that, complete symmetry, muqarnas, stucco and other elements of traditional Iranian architecture can be seen in this tower.Meibod Pigeon House is built both to house pigeons and to dazzle the eyes of visitors!!!