Zoroastrian Towers of Silence Ancient Fire Ritual
Visit the Towers of Silence outside Yazd where Zoroastrians once exposed their dead to vultures in sky burial rituals, the cylindrical stone towers on twin hills bearing witness to 3,000 years of Persian religious practice that predates Islam in this ancient desert city.
- 1
Approach Road
Drive the road through the desert toward the Towers of Silence where the twin hills rise from the flat plain, the approach through dry scrubland creating an atmosphere of solemnity appropriate to what were sacred sites for sky burial in the Zoroastrian tradition.
- 2
Lower Tower Hill
Climb the lower hill to examine the smaller of the two towers where the circular walls and the central pit where bodies were deposited after the vultures had stripped them are clearly visible, the simple functional architecture serving the Zoroastrian requirement to avoid contaminating earth or fire with a corpse.
- 3
Main Tower Summit
Reach the summit of the main Tower of Silence hill where the principal tower stands in its full cylindrical form, the interior accessible through a narrow doorway revealing the concentric rings of stone where bodies of men, women, and children were arranged separately.
- 4
Desert Panorama
Take in the panoramic view from the tower summit over the Yazd desert plain where the ancient city shimmers in the distance, the vast empty landscape providing context for understanding why Yazd's desert isolation preserved its Zoroastrian community when Persian Zoroastrianism was suppressed elsewhere after the Islamic conquest.
- 5
Ossuary Pit
See the central ossuary pit at the bottom of the tower where bones were deposited after vultures had cleaned them, the elaborate ritual procedures of Zoroastrian mortuary practice designed to prevent the sacred earth and fire from being polluted by the impurity of death.
- 6
Zoroastrian Village
Visit the Zoroastrian village below the towers where the community that maintained the towers for centuries still lives, some residents being among Iran's estimated 25,000 remaining Zoroastrians whose presence in Yazd represents one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religious traditions.