Shush Castle, Archaeological fortress in Shush, Iran
Shush Castle is a stone fortress in the city of Shush, Iran, built on the highest point of the ancient Susa mounds. It has a trapezoidal layout with two inner courtyards and thick walls, and it now functions as a museum with rooms dedicated to local archaeological findings.
A French archaeologist had the fortress built in 1897 to serve as a base for ongoing excavations at the ancient city of Susa. The work coordinated from here continued for decades and uncovered one of the most important sites in the history of the ancient Near East.
The castle carries the local name Qaleh-ye Shush and sits directly above the ancient dig sites of Susa, so visitors can look out over the excavation fields from the same walls that once housed the archaeologists. Inside, the rooms display objects found just steps away, making the connection between the building and the site very direct.
The site is on a hilltop, so reaching the main entrance involves a short climb, and some interior staircases lead to higher viewpoints over the surrounding excavation fields. Comfortable shoes are a good idea, as the floors inside and the paths outside can be uneven.
Part of the walls were built using bricks taken from a very ancient dam project in the area, meaning some of the building material was already thousands of years old when the fortress was constructed. This gives the 1897 structure a physical connection to a period long before written records of the region.
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