A comparative study and comparison of the Čahārṭāq of Khorramdasht Kashan with Sassanian religious monuments

Undoubtedly, in the religious archeological studies of the Sassanid era, fire temples and Chartaqis arevery important. In the doctrines of the Zoroastrian religion, the fire was one of thesacredandrespectedelements of the Zoroastrian community, and with the legitimizationofZoroastrianreligion,firetemplesChartaqisappeared as a prominent scene of rituals andreligiouscustoms intheSassanidcommunity.Oneof the most critical fire temples of the Sassanid period intheKashan’sculturalzone is Chartaqi ofKhorram Dasht, which is not well known despite the fame ofotherChartaqis inthis area, such as Chartaqiof Niaser and the fire temple of Vigol. Chartaqi of KhorramDasht is located in the Southeast of Kashan City and near the village of the same name on the lowMoorlands. Based on the evidence, it seems that the Chartaqi of Khorram Dasht is a type of composite building, and traces of architectural remains can be seen today around the Chartaqi (North of the area).The current research, conducted through a combination of fundamental research with adescriptiveand analytical approach, as well as field research and library studies, seeks to answer thefollowingquestion: “Based on the evidence left from the architecture of this building, can it be proved thatitwas used as a fire temple?”, “What model has the architectural plan of Khorram Dashtfollowed?”andfinally, “According to Zoroastrian religious texts, what kind of fire was lit in this fire temple?” Based on theresults, the analysis and comparison of the architectural style of the fire temple of Khorram Dasht withother Sassanid contemporary samples show the similarities of this work from differentperspectives, such as the building plan, in such a way that it used an almost identical pattern as Sassanidsamples in its construction. Also, having examined the neighboring architectural remains, such as Tawaf corridors, it ispossible to imagine the use of the fire temple. Considering the levels of fire in thisperiod and the AtashBahram (Bahram fire) being lit only in the essential and permanent fire temples (threefamous firetemples), probably the fire that was lit in this place was of the local fire type (Adoran)andwas kindled onoccasions.