غار رئیس

Ghar Niasar - Ghar Talar - Ghar Rais - Reise Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Niyasar, Isfahan, Iran. In Niasar, 28 km west of Kashan. From Tehran follow road to Kashan, turn west on asphalted road to Niasar-Mashhad Ardehal junction, 8 km to Niasar. Located in gardens north of Niasar village. (33.9717519, 51.1453457)
Open:	All year daily 8-17. Closed on the days of Tasua and Ashura. [2024]
Fee:
Classification:	Mithras Grotto
Light:	LED
Dimension:	L=1,000 m.
Guided tours:	D=1 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Shahrokh Razmjou, Babak Amin Tafreshi (1998): Niasar Cave - A Man-Made Mithra Temple, The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS). online
Address:	Reise Cave, Niyasar, Isfahan, Tel: +98-.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1980	entrance and parts of the cave destroyed in an earthquake.

Description

غار رئیس (Ghar Rais, Reise Cave, Raies Cave, Chief's Cave) on the official sign it is actually named Reise Ancient Excavated Cave, is known under different names. The most common names of this cave are غار نیاسر (Ghar Niasar, Niasar Cave), غار تالار (Ghar Talar, Hall Cave), and غار رئیس (Ghar Reis, Chief Cave). But let's start with the surroundings. The city of Niasar is located in a valley, surrounded by low mountains, the whole area is a desert. This city is an oasis, a karst spring which forms a waterfall and tufa deposits is the source of the water which allows a small amount of agriculture. Obviously this place has been important for its spring since millennia. Today it is famous for growing roses and producing rose water, the local produce is at least of national fame. During the early Parthian era, the time of the Parthian empire (247 BC–224 AD), more than 2,000 years ago, the natural tufa cave at the waterfall was used as a staring point to excavate a labyrinth of tunnels and passages into the rather soft limestone. Limestone is normally very hard and difficult to excavate, but this limestone here is soft porous tufa surrounded by sandstone or conglomerate and thus rather easy to dig. Nevertheless, it is solidified rock and its stable without support, even during the frequent earthquakes.

The cave is quite enigmatic, as it is a series of very small and narrow passages which form an irregular labyrinth and connect 20 irregular chambers of completely different sizes. The site resembles the underground cities in Turkey, there are even what they call grindstones, circular stones which were rolled in front of openings in order to seal them during sieges. So it probably was a hideout for the locals, but it was never a place to live, many passages require crawling there is no structure suitable for stables, barns, or granaries and so forth. And one section was definitely a temple belonging to followers of Mitra, a god of ancient Persia.This is the reason why this site is listed as a Subterranea Mithras Grotto.

The cave is an important archaeological site. Earthenware objects dated to the Sassanid era and to the Parthian period were found. Much younger are the Islamic era pottery works found around the cave entrances. Some years ago four burials were discovered, probably from the Ice Age (more than 10,000 years BP), so this was obviously in the natural cave.

The site is located at a prominent spot, with the park, the lake, the waterfall and the spring. The tunnels are developed for visitors, they are cleaned and well lit. Nevertheless, they are quite small, even the bigger ones are narrow, the smallest are also low and require crawling. So this visit it definitely not for you if you have any problem with narrow spaces. And actually, old clothes are probably a good idea too. When we first listed the site it was named Niasar Cave, after the village, but the actual name is Ghar Reis, so we have renamed the page. It seems the site is equally listed under both names, and there are even two different locations given on OSM, we guess its two different entrances of the same structure.