Lambsar Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lambsar |
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لمبسر
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Lambsar Castle
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| General information | |
| Type | Castle |
| Location | Alamut |
| Town or city | Razmian |
| Country | Iran |
| Coordinates | 36°32′51″N 50°13′38″E / 36.5476°N 50.2273°E |
Lambsar (Persian: لمبسر) was one of the biggest and strongest castles of the Ismaili people. It is also known as Lamsar, Lamasar, Lambasar, Lambesar, or Lomasar. This amazing fortress is found in the central Alborz mountains. It is south of the Caspian Sea and about 120 kilometers from Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Lambsar is located northeast of Razmian village.
A leader named Kiya Buzurg Ummid took control of the castle in the early 1100s. He then rebuilt it to make it even stronger. He used local workers for this big project. Hassan-i Sabbah, another important leader, made Kiya Buzurg Ummid the governor of Lambsar.
Today, only the ruins of this once great castle remain. The fortress is surrounded by very deep valleys on its east and west sides. This made it almost impossible for enemies to attack from those directions. The only ways to get into the fortress were from the north and south.
The castle was built on a mountain slope. It stretched about 480 meters from north to south and was more than 190 meters wide. The walls were huge and made of very large stones, some as tall as 10 meters. The main building in the north had thick stone walls, about 1.2 meters wide. Visitors can still see wonderful water storage areas and places where grain was kept. These are mostly in the south and southeast parts of the castle. There were also towers and a clever system to bring water into the fortress.
The Castle's Final Days
The Isma'ili castles were the last places to stand against the powerful Mongol army in Persia. The Mongols found it very hard to capture these strongholds. Hulagu Khan, a Mongol leader, was not happy with his commanders. So, he took an army of 10,000 soldiers and marched towards the Alamut region.
In 1256 AD, after a few months, the Meymoon-Dej fort gave up to Hulagu's army. The Isma'ili leader, Imam Rukn ad-Din Khurshah, was captured. Hulagu Khan asked Khurshah to tell his followers to surrender. However, the Lambsar fort, along with Gerdkuh fort and Alamut fort, refused to obey this order.
Lambsar castle bravely resisted for another year. But then, a terrible sickness called cholera spread through the fort. Many people inside Lambsar died from the disease. Because of this, the fort finally fell in January 1257. Hulagu ordered the castle to be destroyed. He also ordered that anyone who had survived the sickness be killed. Later, in 1275 AD and again in 1389 AD, small groups of Isma'ilis tried to take back Alamut. But their attempts did not last long.
Gallery
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The castle measures 180m in width, with walls measuring 1.2 m in thickness at places.
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Remains of Lambsar Castle
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Around Lambsar Castle
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Lambsar Castle, top view
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See also
In Spanish: Lambasar para niños
- Muhammad Tapar's anti-Nizari campaign
- Ismaili
- Iranian architecture
- Alamut Castle
- Atashgah Castle
- Masyaf Castle
