Dash Kasan Caves

The Dash Kasan Caves are a unique complex of rock-cut architecture and historic stone carving, located 10 kilometres southeast of Soltaniyeh, near the village of Vir. The site covers a large area 400 metres long and between 50 and 300 metres wide. The complex consists of three relatively deep caves carved into the rock, and thanks to their delicate, symbolic carvings they hold a special place among Iran's stone-carved monuments. One of the most striking features of these caves is a pair of symmetrical dragons, each 3.5 metres long, facing one another and lending the interior of the complex a dramatic appearance.

Alongside these eye-catching reliefs, you can see mihrabs with stone decoration, arabesque designs, floral and vegetal motifs, and muqarnas carefully chiselled into the rock. This stone-carving art is the work of Chinese artists who were summoned from China to Iran on the orders of Oljaitu, the Ilkhanid ruler. The green stones used in building the Soltaniyeh Citadel were also cut from this same site. Over time, these quarrying cuts created spaces that were later, with minor modifications, turned into carving workshops and even burial places.

Although no visible traces remain from the pre-Ilkhanid period, some hypotheses hold that the earliest use of the Dash Kasan Caves dates back to the Sassanid era and the religion of Mithraism. The second period of use, marked by dragon, vine tendril and grape leaf motifs, belongs to the Ilkhanid era and is closely linked to Oljaitu's architectural projects. The Dash Kasan Caves are a rare example of the fusion of Chinese art and Iranian architecture, and thanks to their distinctive style and features they hold a special place in the history of Iran's rock art.