روانسر

Ravānsar - Rawānsīr - Ravansar Spring


Useful Information

Location: Ravansar.
(34.716712, 46.662144)
Open: no restrictions.
[2022]
Fee: free.
[2022]
Classification: KarstKarst Spring
Dimension:  
Guided tours:  
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: yes
Bibliography:
Address: Ravansar Spring.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History


Description

روانسر (Ravansar Spring) is a huge karst spring located prominently in the city of Ravansar. The area around Ravansar is karstified, the karst groundwater emerges in various springs like homonymous Ravansar Spring, which are very important for the supply of drinking water. The main spring forms a huge lake, سراب روانسر (Ravansar Lake, Ravansar Pond), which is 100 m long and 60 m wide and actually the result of a dam. It is also the spring of Qara Su River, which is used for irrigation and is thus waterless after only a few kilometers.

The spring has always been a place of great importance, a semi-arid country like Iran requires a stable source of drinking water. Human habitation around Ravansar started at least during the Middle Paleolithic 50,000 years BP, during the last cold age. At this time the weather was not only cooler but also more humid. Remains were found in the Kulian Cave and Jawri Cave, as well as the Garab River (Awi Kher). After the end of the cold age 12,000 years BP the climate changed. The nearby Musaei mound and two smaller mounds originate from 8,000 years BP. Later, during the Mesopotamian Empire the city was called Nikour, and it was used as a military base in which Assyrian soldiers gathered horses and other goods that were sent to Assyria. Some archaeologists think, this is the place of Bit-Istar, an Assyrian town and a local kingdom (4,200 BC to 2,700 BP).

Northeast of Ravansar, in a limestone cliff facing eastwards, the rock-cut tomb of Rawansar or Dekhmeh Rawansar, which local people call Kōshk. A small chamber opens to the east and overlooks the slope, surrounded by carvings in a smoothed area, which are badly weathered. A standing human figure close to the door facing toward the right and a winged figure can still be seen. The tomb originates from the Achaemenid period. There are several other remains from this period, for example a pillar base next to the Goni Khani Spring, called "Takhti Zangi". Rawansar was probably an important center of this government in the west of the country during the Achaemenid period. In the Parthian period, the town was located west of the modern town close to a spring called Kani Wayan. A collection of silverware from the Sassanid period was discovered in Quri Qala Cave. In other words, the area was of importance through all periods, due to its springs.