Qanats of Gonabad

A qanat is a gently sloping tunnel driven from an aquifer at the foot of high ground to a settlement on the plain, tapping groundwater and delivering it by gravity with no pumping and almost no evaporation, and the system at Qasabeh Gonabad is among the oldest and most impressive anywhere: its 427 wells and channels run to some 33 kilometres in all, the mother well is around three hundred metres deep, and construction is generally dated to well over two thousand years ago. It still carries water. The vertical access shafts run in a dotted line across the desert surface, which is how a qanat is recognised from above, and the underground gallery can be entered at points. Qasabeh is one of eleven qanats inscribed together as the Persian Qanat.

History

Local tradition links the qanat to the legendary king Kay Khosrow, and the 11th-century traveller Nasir Khusraw wrote that it was built on his orders; historians date the system to the Achaemenid Empire, between 700 and 500 BC, and it grew to 427 wells with channels some 33 kilometres long in all. From about 500 BC water clocks, the fenjaan, were used here to measure how long each farmer could draw water, and they also fixed the dates of festivals such as Nowruz and Yalda; they stayed in use until modern clocks replaced them. The qanat joined UNESCO's tentative list in 2007 and was inscribed in 2016 as one of the qanats that make up the Persian Qanat (Wikipedia, Qanats of Ghasabeh).

What's there

• A three-hundred-metre mother well - among the deepest qanat wells known.
• Some 33 kilometres of channels - a system still carrying water.
• Lines of access shafts - the surface trace of the underground system.
• The underground gallery - accessible at points along the route.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Two to three hours. The underground sections are cool at any season. Access to the gallery depends on the caretaker and on water levels.

What to expect

Most of the system is underground and what you see on the surface is a line of shaft mouths. Gallery access is limited and depends on staff. It is remote and public transport is poor. Interpretation is limited in English.

Nearby

Gonabad town is at the outlet; the Khorasan desert runs south.

Key facts