Gonbad-e Qabus

Qabus ibn Wushmgir, a Ziyarid ruler, had this tower built in 1006 as his tomb, and it is a single unornamented cylinder of fired brick with ten flanges running its full height, capped by a conical roof, standing about fifty-three metres from its base on an artificial mound of a further fifteen, with two bands of kufic inscription as the only decoration. There is no tile, no carving and no colour. The proportions are worked out with unusual precision and the structure has stood through earthquakes that flattened much around it. A tradition holds that the coffin was suspended inside on chains, though nothing has been found to confirm it. It stands in a park in the middle of a modern town on the Turkmen steppe.

What you actually see

• A fifty-three-metre brick cylinder - ten flanges and no ornament.
• Two kufic inscription bands - the only decoration on the whole tower.
• The artificial mound - fifteen metres of built ground beneath it.
• The steppe setting - the tower on the edge of the Turkmen plain.

When to go

April to June and September to November. One hour. Late light on the brick is best. The park around it is used by the town. Summers on the steppe are hot and winters cold.

Honest expectations

It is one building and an hour covers it, which makes the long journey to Golestan hard to justify on its own. The interior is not open. Interpretation is limited. The modern town around it is unremarkable.

Nearby

Khalid Nabi is north on the steppe; Gorgan lies west.