The Markooh fortress is one of the unique sights in Mazandaran province, which, of course, not everyone can reach it, unless he/she is deeply interested in Iran’s ancient history. At first glance, this fortress is reminiscent of the Babak Khorramdin fortress and some fire temples, in the sense that it is located at the top of the mountain, like Kalibar, with 320 flat and low steps, which may have made the route easier for the cavalry soldiers.
Markooh fortress is nearly 600 sqm wide, and only four side walls and supporting towers remain from this grand architecture. Archeological research and cultural heritage department has stated that this fortress is more that 1000 years old, so the speculations of other sources that definitively believe that this building belongs to either the pre-Islamic or post-Islamic period are doubtful; of course, there is still room for exploration, and it is believed that it has not been explored as it should be.
This structure is 6 km east of Ramsar city and 3 km from the seacoast in Katalom city. The height of the fort is 500 meters above sea level, and it was registered as one of the national monuments of Iran on Esfand 25, 1379, with number 3484.
Its beautiful view of the sea and the rice fields has given this place special advantage. Regarding naming this structure, there are speculations in the historical texts belonging to the third, fifth, and eighth centuries of AH. If the construction of this building reaches before Islam, we can see the roots of Mithraism or Mehr worship in it. In the native dialects of this region, the word “mother” is pronounced as “Mar,” “Mehr,” and “Mahar” referring to the fact that many of the terms of the local dialect today have their roots in the words of Mehr worship, it can be said that Mar, meaning mother, refers to Mehr or Mitra, which means that this mountain was believed to be a holy place among the people of those times.
For further follow-up, I direct the dear readers to the books “Zubda al-Tawarikh” and “Jami al-Tawarikh” by Khwaja Rashiduddin Fazullah Hamdani and the events around this fortress in the mid-sixth century (12th century AD) when the Ismaili group captured it. Of course, perhaps the most recent writing about this fort belongs to Muhammad Hassan Khan Etimad al-Sultaneh, the trusted historian of the Qajar court, who saw this fortress from close and described it as follows: “There is a mountain called Markooh in Tonekabon, where there are many dokhmas (tower of silence), full of moths that hit against the lights and people and prevent them from entering the dokhmas. On top of the mountain is a place known as Naqarkhaneh; whenever a stone hits that place, a sound like a drum comes out of it, which echoes for kilometers.
Another very graphic speculation is that this mountain is seen from the south as a snake, which, of course, is inaccurate due to the growth of its unique vegetation, or at least it does not seem like this.
