Rayen Citadel

Arg-e Rayen is a mud-brick citadel of about twenty thousand square metres on the plain below Mount Hezar, with walls, towers, a governor's house, a mosque, a bazaar street, stables and residential quarters inside, occupied until around a hundred and fifty years ago and then abandoned. It is smaller than the citadel at Bam and less famous, and for a long time it was in its shadow, but the 2003 earthquake that destroyed most of Bam left Rayen untouched, which means it now gives the clearest surviving impression of what a large Iranian mud-brick citadel actually looked like standing. Visitors walk the walls, the lanes and the buildings, and the mountain behind gives it a setting that Bam does not have.

What you actually see

• An intact mud-brick citadel - walls, towers and lanes still standing.
• The governor's quarter - the higher enclosure within the outer walls.
• Bazaar and stable buildings - the working parts of the settlement.
• Mount Hezar behind - the mountain closing the view from the walls.

When to go

March to May and October to November; it sits at altitude so it is cooler than Bam. Two hours. Mornings and late afternoon for light on the mud brick, which flattens badly at midday.

Honest expectations

There is little interpretation and no guides in English. Restoration is visible and parts are rebuilt rather than original. No shade anywhere inside the walls. Rayen has minimal facilities and the drive from Kerman is over an hour.

Nearby

Bam and its citadel are south-east; Kerman lies north-west.