Kharbas Cave

Kharbas Cave is a natural wonder located fifteen kilometres from the town of Qeshm, on Qeshm Island in southern Iran. In the highlands above the village of Kharbas you will see remains that some researchers believe were a place of worship for followers of Mithraism, or a temple of Anahita, the goddess of water. Kharbas Cave is one of the island's beautiful sights, and its rock-cut architecture captivates visitors.

The Kharbas Caves lie on the face of a mountain overlooking the southern coast of Qeshm Island. Four interconnected cave openings can be seen at a height of 20 to 30 metres, and they are known as the Kharbas Caves. These caves are considered ancient geological formations. Together with the other formations and mountains and the island of Qeshm itself, they are a continuation of the folds of the Zagros Mountains, which rose out of the water thousands of years ago.

In its facade construction, Kharbas Cave closely resembles the rock-cut temple or tomb of Kalat-e Khormuj on the slopes of Mount Mand in Bushehr. Its proximity to the ancient city of Kharbaz points to a great and advanced civilization in the Median period. These caves can be compared with the rock-cut tombs of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Bushehr, Ahvaz and Shushtar. The interiors of the Kharbas Caves in particular have kept their original shape and layout and remain as they were in ancient times. Some consider these caves a Mithraic temple, while others regard them as ossuaries (astudan). The most likely conjecture is that, even if these hollows in the rock were not pre-Islamic ossuaries, they were most probably designed as refuges for defenceless people who once lived on the flat plain of Kharbaz and faced raids by pirates. For this reason, they created these connected chambers so that, in times of danger, they could shelter children, women and the elderly inside.

Kharbas Cave on Qeshm Island can be visited every day from 8 am to 6 pm, and you will need about 2 hours to see all of its beauty. Because of the island's hot climate, the best time to visit the cave is autumn and winter. However, according to some travellers, the air inside the cave is cool, which makes a visit possible in summer as well.