In Iranian culture protecting birds and animals has always been of value and importance. Building dovecots was an example of such a culture; a place where pigeons can live comfortably and stay safe from the harm of other animals, and in return, they bring benefits to the people’s lives. Although dovecots were built in other countries as well, none were like those in Iran, neither did they have the beauty and magnificence of the dovecots in our country.
Dovecot is sometimes called pigeon tower and “kaftarkhaneh” in Persian language. These ancient structures in Iran were built to keep pigeons safe, and never was their meat eaten; only the manure of these birds was used in agriculture and industry.
In the past, when there were no industrial and chemical fertilizers, pigeon manure was the best fertilizer for agriculture. In addition, pigeon manure was also used in the leather industry. Therefore, these structures, between 7 and 15 m high, were built next to fields, and housed up to 40,000 pigeons. Dovecots were built of plaster made from clay and straw; nests were built in them, all of the same size and in order; so that the pigeons could easily nest in them. Manure was collected from the floor of the pigeon house, which farmers took for their farms. Pigeons were also used for dispatching letters. For this reason, sometimes small dovecots were built where rulers and judges could use to dispatch letters by these birds. There are many such pigeon houses in Iranian cities.
The history of dovecots in Iran
Although there is no clear documentation about the first dovecote structures in Iran, signs of the construction of such places can be found in the plateau of Iran at least 1200 years ago. The first traveler who mentioned Iran’s pigeon houses in his travelogue was the Moroccan Ibn Battutah. He came to Iran in the 8th century of the lunar calendar and has mentioned pigeon houses in his travelogue. After that, especially during the Safavid era, many European travelers spoke about Iran’s pigeon houses and considered them better and more significant than the European ones. Chardin, a French traveler, praised Iran’s pigeon houses and pointed out that there are more than three thousand pigeon houses around the city of Isfahan. The reason for the abundance of pigeon houses in those days was that they had financial value. The owners of the dovecotes earned considerable money by selling pigeon manure, which is why the Safavid government collected taxes from the owners of the dovecotes.
Architecture of dovecots
Dovecote structures can be seen more or less all over Iran. Such structures can be seen from Azarbaijan in the north, right upto the central desert of Iran; from Khorasan in the East upto the south. But most of them were built in the desert areas of Iran. In this part of Iran, clay, straw and salt (materials for building dovecots) were easy to find, and they were resistant to heat and cold.
It is said that most of the dovecots were in Isfahan; one of the reasons is that agriculture was very prosperous there, and its fertile land and the need for fertilizer to make the land productive were more. There were many dovecotes in Yazd and Azerbaijan. Based on the statistics of the cultural heritage of East Azerbaijan, 10 Qajar dovecotes have been registered in this province, five examples of which are in Bonab city, and the other examples are in Ajabshir, Tabriz, and Maragheh cities.
Dovecots in Iran were built in two types: cylindrical and cubic. In the first method, a cylindrical tower was built, the only opening of which was the entrance door of the tower. Above the tower was a dome with many holes, a place for pigeons to go in and out. But the cubic dovecote is a square or rectangular tower with holes for pigeons to enter or exit. These kinds of dovecotes are less numerous than cylindrical dovecotes, and most of them were built in Central and Isfahan provinces.
Dovecots in Iran can hold between 1000 to 40,000 pigeons. They were built near the river or water stream, or if there was no river nearby, they met the pigeons’ water needs by digging a well. Dovecots were built in such a way that they were cool in summer and warm in winter.
One of the very important points that was considered for dovecots was the safety of the pigeons. These structures were built so other birds, such as crows and owls, could not enter. They used an interesting method to prevent snakes from crawling. In this way, they put a milk pan in the middle of the pigeon house and sprinkled lime around the pan. The snakes, fond of milk, would unconsciously go to the pan, and when their bodies were dragged into the lime, they would lose their ability to move and get stuck on the floor of the dovecote. Then they were caught and thrown out. Another method was to spread incense and rue plants on the floor of the dovecots to keep the snakes away.
Current conditions of dovecote structures in Iran
Unfortunately, Iran’s dovecote structures have not been given proper attention for many years, and many of them have disappeared, especially since there has been negligence in their repair and reconstruction. According to statistics, until the 1356 solar year, only about 700 of the many pigeon houses in Isfahan were left. The number has decreased and reached 300 dovecotes (Iranian Development website report). The number of nationally registered pigeon houses in Iran is also minimal. Therefore, it is necessary to look seriously into these important structures. In the series of articles on “Dovecots of Iran”, we will take a closer look at some of the more famous dovecote towers of Iran; dovecotes such as Mardavij, Vaelashan, Gavart, Hazarjarib (in Isfahan), Meybod, Mubarakeh (in Yazd), Bonab, Sakhrekneh (in East Azerbaijan) and…
