A thousand- step fort

History obove the nature

Examining the history and the architecture of Rudkhan castle, one of the most unconquerable castles of Iran
Here you can witness a full exhibition, an exhibition of nature and history, trees and the commotion, mountains and the castle. There is a fort standing among the dense forests of the southern part of Fuman, the fort has hidden some leaves of the vicissitudinous history of Gilan inside its bricks and towers.
Somewhere among the soaring trees, high and thick walls of the castle with its towers guarding its every place break the silence of the forest unnoticeably. Bricks set their feet on each other's shoulders and stand still so that the castle called 'Rudkhan" remains persistent, a castle that once had been under the feet of fully-armed Gilani soldiers; Soldiers from the various ethnic groups. Gilan and its moisture does not give every building a long life, but Rudkhan castle is persist for centuries; as if an unspoken secret and mystery is hidden at the heart of its each stone and brick of the castle. This fort is famous for its invincibility either in front of the wind and the rain or in front of the enemies. This text looks at the history and the architecture Rudkhan castle which has been registered on the National Heritage List of Iran 36 years ago and it is one of the architectural masterpieces of Iran.
For seeing Rudkhan castle one must pay a sweet price, one and half kilometer walk in the corridor of heaven, an uphill path amidst the high mountains and dense trees of "alder", " carpinus betulus", "maple", "oak" and "beech". This road trip is not only boring, but also so precious which takes you to a three-acre area of unique architectural effect. Rudkhan castle is Located 25 km southwest of Fuman city north of Iran in Gilan province. The castle is in the forest of Rudkhan castle. After crossing a hanging wooden bridge on the river, you should walk in a winding route amids the heart of the forest which is called the corridor of heaven among climbers and local people. The silence of the woods is just broken by birds singing abd all the way long your skin is damp by small drops of rain. When we reach the castle, it is not only the end of the mountainous winding route which makes us stops, but also glory and grandeur of the brick castle that gradually comes out of the trees, this scene will astonish any visitor. This is a full imaginative dream: Picturing the fully-armed soldiers standing on red bricks and gray stones of the castle; beneath their feet there is moss and grass protruding through the openings in the walls of the castle. Walking on the walls, all forest is under our feet. Walls have been built on the highest parts of the hills so that the inside of the castle is safer. Every part of these walls had been controlled and guarded by soldiers from various groups and dynasties. Let's walk inside the castle to see its wonders firsthand.

Seven Wonders of Gilan

"A Fort called Rudkhan Castle is the third building of seven wonders of Gillan." Dr. Manuchehr Sotude in his book "Astara to Astarabad" mentions Rudkhan castle and says: "I have seen and studied many castles but I have never seen an immense and grand castle like this so far. Perhaps this fort can be counted as one of the stange castles of Iran and the only fort that can be considered as its counterpart is Tale Estakhr located in Fars Province. "And even this castle is compared to the forts of Alamut in Qazvin Province, Roudbar and Tarom in Zanjan Province.
Rudkhan castle is known as one of the most unconquerable castles of Iran throughout the history. One of the reasons is difficult access to the castle. Herbal covering of dense Rainforests in the area and the castle surrounded by valleys as well as the existance of the roaring river of Rudkhan make it difficult for any warrior. Rudkhan castle was named after the Rudkhan River located on the northwest side of the castle. Walking in different parts of the castle with its numerous steps is nothing less than climbing a mountain, this is ofcourse another reason and contribution to the reduction of enemy's power.
Rudkhan castle is called the "thousand-step fort" which is a meaningul name for it. Building a castle amidst the forest, with a wall of more than 1550 meters on high parts of the mountain requires its special architectural style, a style that made Rudkhan castle to become one of the most important historical monuments of Iran. Walls obey all peaks and valleys of the mountain. This obedience has made the castle to be seen as the number of 8; it doesn’t have a regular geometric shape. This is due to the mountainous region, and perhaps architects couldn't do anything more. On the other hand, this made it much more difficult for those who wanted to attack the castle. Although stone and brick are the basic materials of the castle, but in vulnerable and sensitive areas, such as rooms, towers and vaulted ceilings brick, stone, Iranian plaster and mortar have been used.
Unlike many other buildings in the north, the wood is not used in the structure. Perhaps because the wood burns easily and the castle is not supposed to burn that simply. All precautionary measures for the security of the fort were observed; for example, the height of the wall is not constant throughout the wall, but it varies between three and 10 meters and in permeable points of the castle, walls and ramparts have become thicker and longer. In these thick walls, holes for pouring molten materials as well as shooting have been arranged. The whole space of the castle is located between two peaks of a mountain at elevation of 715 and 670 meters so that access to the castle becomes much more difficult. The castle also contains strong fortifications and battlements at a length of 1,550 metres. Rudkhan castle's 42 towers still stand intact.

A castle for the king and the soldier

Long life at the fort required the hierarchy of the king, and the serf and the soldiers. Highest point of the castle was the king's building (Shah Neshin) located on a high hill; the building is ofcourse the most beautiful part of the castle and it fully monitors all parts of the castle and its boundaries. King's building was the ruler's and his harem.
Rudkhan castle also had an armory factory or an arsenal, in it not only soldiers could live, but also they could carry out military operations. Rudkhan castle can also be classified differently; one is the western part that includes entrance gate, fountain, pond, water tank, cold stores, bathroom, water-closet, the king's building, and some residential units that are surrounded by towers and walls. Another is the eastern part which is smaller than the western parts and its buildings are mostly military. This section has its own separate entrance gate and two long towers and a rampart took good care of it. A prison, a number of residential units and an emergency door also exist in the eastern part. The emergency door has been designed for situations when the enemy has entered the castle, so the residents of the castle can quickly take refuge in the safe areas of the forest. Two-story guard houses in the eastern part with multiple openings monitor the area. Millions of bricks have been used in the construction of Rudkhan castle.
While reconstructing the castle by the office of cultural heritage of Gilan province in 1380, two depots of brick with thousands of pieces of brick were discovered in depth of several meters inside the castle, it is most likely that in old times these bricks were baked in rural ares near the castle and carried into the castle by animals. The castle is rich in amenities in order to stay a long time in it; inside the towers is cool in the summer and in the winter fireplaces are for lighting up the fire and heating. There are clay pots inside the castle which they were filled with animal fat, so in the winter they could use them for lighting up. In the southern of the castle, there are two rooms each with a capacity of 50 people. Watchmen were there, and at the time of enemy's attack, they informed castle's personnel with trumpets and fire. Thus Rudkhan castle was a unique castle in its kind and an unconquerable castle in its era.

Standing on the shoulder of history

The history of Rudkhan castle is full of ups and downs, full of days of war and commotion. An inscription preserved today in the treasure museum of Rasht city is a witnesse of one of the most brilliant periods of the castle. The inscription talks of a basic reconstruction from the years of 918 to 921 A.H., when the governor of Gilan was "Sultan Hesam Aldin". This repair by Sultan Hesam Aldin caused Rudkhan castle to be famous as the "Hesami" castle too. Amir Hesam made the castle firm again so it could be its biggest base and fortress in front of the rulers of Lahijan and the Safavid central government of Iran.
But the history of Rudkhan casatle is not limited to this time. Heretofore, it was supposed that Rudkhan was remains of the Sassanids. Before the Achaemenids and at the same time of the Medes, a nation called Kadoos lived in the region, some thoughts even attributed the construction of the castle to their time. It was even said that after them, the Achaemenids, the Parthians and the Sassanids not only used it, but also extended it. But new theories say that this building is not a pre-Islamic one built in the Sassanid era.
According to the experiments made by the Institute of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural relics and Tourism, the castle dates back to the Seljuk period. Azar Sadeghinejad is the first archaeologist that has made coherent researches to discover the secrets of the castle. He believes that local emirs built Rudkhan castle, because central governments after the Seljuks usually did not rule Fuman and its surroundings and widespread insecurity of 6th and 7th century A.H. was the most important reason for the construction of the building.
Another assumption was that the Ismailis ruled the castle in their time, but Sadeghinejad rejects this hypothesis too and believes that no smallest reason is obtained in order to consider the castle as Ismaili, but vice versa some evidence indicates that Rudkhan castle was constructed to deal with possible invasions of the Ismailis and some other local government disputes from the shores of the Caspian Sea. There are also influences of Safavid era in the castle; handmade and wheelmade pottery in the castle probably dates back to the Safavid period. Also, several tiles were found; triangular tiles with burned brown glaze, large turquoise-colored hexagonal tiles and some tiles glazed with blue and white flowers of Shah Abbas are examples related to the Safavid period.

Abandoned and glorious

Although Rudkhan castle was under the reigning of rulers of Gilan, in geographical and historical texts of Gilan, the catle was not mentioned prior to the tenth century A.H. Abdollah Fumani is the eleventh century author; in his book "history of Gilan" he once mentioned the mountain of Rudkhan castle. In 1830, a Russian researcher found the castle and wrote its location in his notes while researching in Gilan. He writes about Ruddkhan: "It is a castle built on top of a mountain of the upriver with the same name. Its roof is made of stone and sides of the entrance have two strong defensive towers. "
It was in Zand era that for the last time the castle was restored to use it as a military base. In the time of Hedayat Allah Khan- ruler of Gilan the castle was restored. The building was abandoned at the same time, ofcourse nobody knows the reason. Although it is said that during the campaign after Zand, such as the movement of Mirza Kuchak Khan the castle was used, but no repair ever did in it. For the sake of tourists and for the revival of the building, in recent years some restorations have been done by the office of cultural heritage. Although glorious Rudkhan castle has passed its tumultuous days and now it is calm and quiet amidst the forest, but it is still a mirror of Gilan's architecture and its tumultuous history.