Home > Travel > Sightseeing International >

The Towers of Silence, Iran

Newest Review: ... the Towers. I'm not convinced it's true but it's the kind of myth that make you want to know more and wouldn't do a lot for the resale value of your property. Zoroastrians account for about 10% of the local population in the city of Yazd - the highest level in the whole of Iran. Like the city itself, they were left to their own devices for a long time and escaped persecution by virtue of their isolation. I was morbidly excited at the prospect of visiting the Towers because in my imagination I had always supposed that they would be tall elegant buildings like the towers of Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I was - as is often t... more

Read Reviews for The Towers of Silence, Iran

The Towers of Silence, Iran: Hush up for the Towers of Silence (873 words)
by - written on 10/04/09 (Very useful, 150 readings)
Rating:

I've been intrigued about Zoroastrianism for a long time and I think it's fair to say that one aspect of this fascinating religion that excites the most morbid interest for many people is the way in which Zoroastrians dispose of their dead. Since fire is sacred and earth must not be contaminated by the unclean bodies of the dead, corpses are laid out to be stripped bare by vultures in what are known as Towers of Silence. Once the birds have picked the bones clean, the bodies were historically interred in rock tombs. Now I think you'll admit that's pretty fascinating. One of my very favourite authors, the Canadian-Indian writer Rohinton Mistry, writes about ... Read the complete review