Arg-e Bam rises from the desert plain of southeastern Iran as one of the most impressive examples of traditional mud-brick architecture. The fortress sits atop the highest point of the old oasis settlement near the modern city of Bam in Kerman Province, forming the core of the wider cultural landscape that once supported a thriving desert community.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Bam site has been occupied since antiquity, with structures and settlement traces dating back to the Achaemenid era. The citadel grew in importance during the early medieval period, when Bam served as a key stop on caravan and trade routes across the Iranian plateau and beyond. For Centuries, the site evolved into a fortified town with residential, commercial, religious, and administrative quarters.
Constructed principally from sun-dried mud bricks (adobe) and local earthen materials, Arg-e Bam illustrates traditional desert building techniques adapted to a hot, arid climate. The complex once included long defensive walls, numerous watchtowers, a main citadel (the ruler’s quarters), markets, private houses arranged around inward-facing courtyards, mosques, and service buildings — all laid out to balance security, climate control, and communal life. Before the 2003 earthquake, the citadel was widely recognized as the largest adobe structure of its kind.
On 26 December 2003, a catastrophic earthquake struck the Bam region and severely damaged much of the historic citadel and the surrounding town. The quake destroyed a large portion of the standing masonry and caused heavy loss across the local population. In the aftermath, national and international conservation efforts were launched to stabilise, document, and, where possible, restore the surviving fabric of the site using a combination of traditional materials and modern conservation methods.
Arg-e Bam is inseparable from its oasis environment: an ancient network of qanats (underground irrigation channels), palm groves, and gardens sustained the settlement for centuries and form an essential part of the site’s cultural identity. The relationship between built form and water management is a major reason Bam is valued as a distinctive desert settlement.
Arg-e Bam is inseparable from its oasis environment: an ancient network of qanats (underground irrigation channels), palm groves, and gardens sustained the settlement for centuries and form an essential part of the site’s cultural identity. The relationship between built form and water management is a major reason Bam is valued as a distinctive desert settlement.
For further information about the site’s World Heritage status, please visit the official UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
