Burj-i Ali Abad

Ali-Abad Kashmar, Iran

The tomb tower known as Burj-i Ali Abad is located in the village of Ali Abad Kashmar some 30 kilometers northwest of the larger modern town of Kashmar, off the road between Kashmar and Bardaskan. Its form, related to other tomb towers in Iran such as the tower at Radkan, dates the Ali Abad tower to the late 13th - early 14th century / late 7th - early 8th century AH.

The baked brick tower rises 15 meters from a dodecagonal base. The round, tapering shaft of the tower is articulated with flanges alternating with half-round engaged columns rising to a cornice. A conical vault caps the tower above the cornice. The interior space is octagonal.

The dodecagonal base and flanged shaft are decorated with geometric patterns in brick, and glazed terracotta tiles are inset into the ridges between the flanges and engaged columns on the tower's shaft.

Sources:

Wilber, Donald. The Architecture of Islamic Iran. The Ilkhanid Period, cat. 25, pp. 120-121. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969.