Dayr-e Gachin

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Deir-e Gachin Caravansarai
کاروانسرای دِیر گچین
Alternative names	Deyr-e Gachin
General information
Location	Qom
Country	Iran
Year(s) built	224–651
Groundbreaking	Sasanian Empire

Deir-e Gachin Caravansarai is a historic caravansarai in Iran, located in the center of Kavir National Park.^[1] Because of its history and unique qualities, it is sometimes called the "Mother of Iranian Caravansarais".^[2] It is located in the Central District of Qom County, 80 kilometers north-east of Qom (60 kilometers into Garmsar Freeway) and 35 kilometers south-west of Varamin. This monument was registered in Iran's National Heritage List on September 23, 2003.^[3] The caravanserai was originally built in the Sasanian era^[4][5] and underwent restorations and reconstructions in the Seljuk,^[6][7] Safavid^[4][8] and Qajar^[4][9] eras. Its current form belongs to Safavid era.^[8] This caravanserai is situated on the ancient rout from Ray to Isfahan.^[10]

The structure of this caravansarai is in Seljuk four-iwan form and covers an 12000 square meters wide. The interior spaces of the caravansarai include human, livestock, service and convenience, and security spaces. There are four circular towers at the corners and two half-oval towers at both sides of the main gate which is situated in the middle of the southern wall. Also, there are 44 rooms or chambers, 4 big halls (stables), mosque, private shabestan, fodder barn, gristmill, bathroom and toilet. The materials used in Deir-e Gachin are brick, lime, adobe and plaster. The mosque of the caravanserai was probably built in the place of the Sasanian fire temple and there are no decorations in it. There are a number of structures around the caravanserai as a collection including two Ab anbars behind the western side and close to the bathroom, a brick furnace, a dam, and a graveyard in the south-western side in which the graves are covered with bricks and that goes back to the Islamic era. There is a brick-clay-made structure in the form of a fort 500 meters east of the caravanserai which has only one entrance gate and its structure goes back to the Qajar era.