Alamut Valley and The Castles of the Assassins

Let`s start a day away from routine daily traffic, pollution and all the city life around. We are having a day out!, feeling real fresh air! Alamut Valley is huge. For sure it is not possible to do the whole valley in one or even some days. Then we stick to the plan of Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. Just 4 main attractions and highlights.

The Canyons (Andaj Village)
Alamut (or Hasan - i - Sabah) Castle
The lake Ovan

Let`s start with the above order in an ordinary Spring day with nice people from around the world:

This is our path to Lambesar castle around 50 kilometers from Qazvin, at the beginning point of the Alamut valley.

Rice fields at the Alamut Valley - Shahroud River

If you have not visited the Caspian Sea coastal area, yet, then these fields would be your first insight of Iranian Rice. Iran grows rice in these two areas of Caspian Sea and Alamut Vally. Of course the amount produced in Iran does not meet the domestic demand for rice and the State has always a plan of importing rice from India and Pakistan. But the Iranian Rice has got a better quality and apparently a higher price. The rice here is cultivated once per year, because at the winter the whole valley is covered with snow.

After around 1 hour and a half of driving, you will reach to Razmian Town. The road to Lambesar castle starts from the center of the town towards the north at the pathway of Hir village. It is said that this was the second stronghold of the Ismaili assassins which went around three years in siege before being tackled down by the Mongols. It was a huge castle with numerous rooms and water reservoirs.

The Canyons of Andaj village - Sand Stones

The tremendous pathway through the Canyons

The view from the heights of the Canyons mountains

On a routine plan, after visiting Lambesar (Lamyasar) Castle, we reach to the wonderful canyons of Andaj. These canyons without a doubt will amaze you and you would`nt regret taking your time to reach to them. If you are lucky enough, you will see the eagles here in the mountains, just keep an eye on the pathways and the close mountains around!

Finally where you are expecting, the castle of Alamut. The Iranians call it Hasan-i-Sabah castle. He was the founder and the first leader of the Ismaili.

For sure, the founder was a very smart man to choose the location of the castle here! The very unique characteristics of the castles of the assassins was that they had only one reaching way, not more! And this made them quite impervious.

View from the Alamout Castle to Gazor Khan Village

You should not expect anything like the intact castles in Europe, But here the scenery from the height of the Alamout castle will definitely satisfy you.

When getting up to the castle, for sure the stairs are the best option. But when getting down, to help your knees a little, it`s better to take the donkey road!

It`s time to relax and enjoy the natural honey plus tea and the very fresh cherries at the village of Gazor khan. Actually these two are among the good-quality products of the Alamut Vally. Bon appetit!

As our final destination for the day, we can sit at the slope looking down to the Ovan lake, drinking a cup of tea and enjoy the end of an excursion to the valley of the Assassins. A long, long time ago, in a valley far, far away, there lived a mysterious band of mercenaries atop a mountain. The mercenaries would occasionally descend into the towns below, kidnapping and/or murdering important people of their day and age. Their leader, Hassan e-Sabah, motivated his merry band of mercenaries with promises of future paradise. To trick even the most suspicious of minds into believing his claims of paradise, Sabbah would bring his followers to lush gardens filled with dazzling young virgin girls… while they were high as balls on hashish. Thus his followers became known as the hashish-iyun, assassins. The Castles of the Assassins and the Alamut Valley So the story goes, anyway. These days, the Castles of the Assassins are mostly dilapidated ruins scattered throughout the Alamut Valley in northern Iran. Don’t let the lack of remaining splendor deter you, though—the Castles’ architects had a serious eye for real estate, and the ruins are located among some of the most epic landscapes in northern Iran. If you’re staying in the city of Qazvin or Rasht, the Alamut Valley is well worth a day (or three) of hiking. The road from Qazvin to and through the Alamut Valley twists and turns, traversing mountains blanketed with cherry trees, and winding through stark gorges of red rocks. Small, sleepy towns make periodic appearances along the road, and the occasional farmer could be seen picking at the ground, preparing for the planting season. Otherwise, there were not many people in sight as we wove our way through shrubbery and sparse trees to explore the gorges lining the road. After a longer and snowier winter than usual, it was refreshing finally to see signs of spring blossoming from the tree branches. Eventually, the road led out of the canyon of gorges up to the base of a mountain–the foundation for the ruins of Alamut Castle. The steep pathway to the top zigzags up a side of the mountain invisible to the road–quite fitting for an Assassins’ haven. Though the remnants of the Castle are covered in scaffolding for restoration (estimated completion date: who knows when?)… … the views from the top assuredly make up for it. We can’t say that we endorse killing and kidnapping for money, but we’ve got to hand it to the assassins–they have excellent taste in real estate. If you’re ever in Iran, don’t miss the Alamut Valley. It’s 4-5 hours of driving from Tehran, and it’s so, so worth it.