Ilam Province
Ilam Province is a province in the East part of Kurdistan with 425 kilometers of mutual borders with Iraq. This province has mutual borders with Kermashan, Lorestan, and Khouzestan provinces. The main city of this province is Ilam which is the largest city in this region too. According to the census done in 2016, there are 581 thousand citizens living in this province.
Ilam possesses mild weather with all four seasons in the East part of Kurdistan with many historical monuments from the past and tens of natural and historical tourist attractions. "Sam Castle" and "Wali Castle" are among the historical castles of Ilam.
Sam Castle in Chardawol town
"Sam Castle" is one of the historical castles in Ilam that is located in "Chardawol" town.
In fact, "Sam Castle" is a vast historical field near "Chim Bur" village and there is a 500-year-old plantain tree near it. This castle consists of three related parts that are located at a distance from one another. Some historical evidence indicates that this castle was built at the end of the Parthian era and the beginning of the Sassanid era.
The archeologists believe that "this castle has a form of military and defending structure. The castle is built on the most difficult parts of the mountain to reach and the main architect of this castle had built the rooms and doors of it based on the form of natural rocky paths. Generally, the form of this structure resembles the Sassanid buildings."
On the southwest of this castle, there are the remains of fireplaces that had been turned into mosques by the Muslim Arabs.
Wali Castle in Ilam
"Wali Castle" in Ilam is located in the "Miyan Kouhi" plains at the top of "Chiga Mirak" hill in Ilam. It is built during the "Qajar" era in 1287 Hijri, 1908 A.D. "Bibi" river provided drinking water for this castle which was transferred to the main yard of the castle by using "Clay Bori" (Clay Pipes). This monument was recorded as the number 1798 monument in Iran on May 9, 1997.
Wali Castle is located north of "Pasdaran" street in the center of Ilam and it has been repaired. This historical structure is one of the most important tourist attractions of Ilam and Kurdistan. Ilam's anthropology museum is within this castle. Like most of the other historical castles in Iran, Wali Castle has also been forgotten and Iran's government has been negligent towards it.
Wali Castle is one of the important Cultural-Historical structures in the East part of Kurdistan. It was built in 1908 by "Gholam Reza Khan Fayli's" order in the "Hossein Awa Fayli" neighborhood that was known as "Sarou Village". "Gholam Reza Khan Fayli" was the wali (governor) of that area and built that castle at the top of a hill as a summer house for himself.
Wali Castle is built on 4687 meters square of land and there is a park about 1792 meters square in the south part of it. The foundation of this castle is 1466 meters square and the main yard is as large as 1363 meters square. Some tall and old trees with a pool in front of the castle have created a beautiful landscape.
At the time of building this castle, it was a vast vacant field, however after urbanization developed, the castle was surrounded by houses and offices.
On the north part of this castle, there is a beautiful hall that is larger than any other room in the castle. In the middle of this hall, there is a small pool decorated with marble stone. This pool was built next to a river that was flowing at that time but as time passed, the river dried up eventually. When they began to repair the castle later, they added pipes to the castle so that the pool will be full of water all the time.
It is worth mentioning that almost half of this castle got ruined during the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq. Some parts of it were repaired later although it was not sufficient.
