Sasanian cities

Samarkand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. Samarkand is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements Kimyogarlar, Farhod and Khishrav. With 551,700 inhabitants (2021), it is the third-largest city in Uzbekistan.

Isfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan Province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city has a population of approximately 2,238,000, making it the third-most populous city in Iran, after Tehran and Mashhad, and the second-largest metropolitan area.

Shiraz is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which is historically known by the exonym Persia proper. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 people, and its built-up area with Sadra was home to almost 1,800,000 inhabitants. A census in 2021 showed an increase in the city's population to 1,995,500 people. Shiraz is located in southwestern Iran on the () seasonal river. The city has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years.

thumb|right|250px|Derbent is at the foot of the snow-capped Caucasus Mountains, seen here in a photo taken by the MODIS on the orbiting Terra satellite, June 2003

Nishapur () or Neyshabur (, ) is a city in the Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Kermanshah (, ; .) is a city in the Central District of Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western part of the country. The 2016 National Census measured the population of the city as 946,651 (2025 estimate 1,117,000). Kermanshah is widely recognised as the largest Kurdish-populated city in Iran and one of the most significant urban centres of Kurdish culture in the region. The Kurdish dialect of the city, known as Kermashani, belongs to the Southern Kurdish branch of the Kurdish language family.

Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district.

Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. It represents the current city of Shush, located on the site of ancient Susa. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.

Amol ( ; ) is a city in the Central District of Amol County, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the province.

Ctesiphon ( ; , Tyspwn or Tysfwn; ; , ; ) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of Baghdad. Ctesiphon served as a royal capital of the Iranian empires for over eight hundred years, in the Parthian and Sasanian periods. Ctesiphon was the administrative capital of the Sasanian Empire from 226 to 637 (when it was conquered by the Arabs), or until the conclusion of the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD.

Merv ( ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian city in Central Asia, located on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium BC until the 18th century AD. It changed hands repeatedly throughout history. Under the Achaemenid Empire, it was the center of the satrapy of Margiana. It was subsequently ruled by Hellenistic Kings, Parthians, Sasanians, Arabs, Ghaznavids, Seljuqs, Khwarazmians and Timurids, among others.

city in Zanjan Province, Iran

Hatra (; (); ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The ruins of the city lie northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. It is considered the richest archaeological site from the Parthian Empire known to date.

Nusaybin (, ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation.

city in Tehran Province, Iran

Kashmar (; ) is a city in the Central District of Kashmar County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Kashmar is near the river Shesh Taraz in the western part of the province, and south of the province's capital Mashhad, in Iran, from east to Bardaskan, west to Torbat-e Heydarieh, north to Nishapur, south to Gonabad. Until two centuries ago, this city was named Torshiz ().

city in Azerbaijan

city in Fars Province, Iran

Nahavand () is a city in the Central District of Nahavand County, Hamadan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is south of the city of Hamadan, west of Malayer and northwest of Borujerd.

Seleucia (; ), also known as or or Seleucia ad Tigrim, was a major Mesopotamian city, located on the west bank of the Tigris River within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. It was founded around 305 BC by Seleucus I Nicator as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, and remained an important center of trade and Hellenistic culture after the imperial capital relocated to Antioch. The city continued to flourish under Parthian rule beginning in 141 BC; ancient texts claim that it reached a population of 600,000. Seleucia was destroyed in 165 AD by Roman general Avidius Cassius and gra

Sirjan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Sirjan County, Kerman province, in southern Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is from the Iranian capital of Tehran, and from the provincial capital of Kerman. It is known for its pistachios, Kilim, and a windcatcher locally known as Bādgir-e Chopoqi (calumet louver).

Kazerun () is a city in the northwest of Fars Province in Iran and the center of Kazerun County. This city has an ancient history, numerous ancient and historical monuments, and numerous tourist attractions. Kazerun is the largest and most populous city in the west of Fars Province.

city in Azerbaijan

capital of early medieval Armenia

Darab () is a city in the Central District of Darab County, Fars province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: Stakhr, ) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Persian Frataraka governors and Kings of Persis from the third century BC to the early 3rd century AD. It reached its apex under the Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD), and was the hometown of the Sasanian dynasty. Istakhr briefly served as the first capital of the Sasanian Empire from 224 to 226 AD and then as principal city, region, and religious centre of the Sasanian province of Pars.

Kangavar () is a city in the Central District of Kangavar County, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Ramhormoz () is a city in the Central District of Ramhormoz County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. In ancient times it had been known as Samangan, having been established by the Sasanian emperor Hormizd I, although an Elamite tomb has been found as well. The historical territory of Ramshir is in this area, only away from the city.

Gundeshapur or Gondishapur or Jundishapur (, Weh-Andiōk-Ŝābuhr; ; ) was the intellectual centre of the Sasanian Empire founded by the Sasanian emperor Shapur I. Gundeshapur was home to a teaching hospital and had a library and an ancient higher-learning institution, the Academy of Gondishapur, which was the first and oldest university in human history. It has been identified with extensive ruins south of Jandi Shapur, a village 14 km southeast of Dezful, along the road to Shushtar in Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.

Gonabad () is a city in the Central District of Gonabad County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.

Izadkhast () is a city in the Central District of Abadeh County, Fars province, Iran, and serves as the administrative center for Izadkhast Rural District. It is the first city in Fars on the Isfahan-Shiraz Highway.

city in Kerman Province, Iran

city in Tehran Province, Iran

Bishapur (Middle Persian: Vēh-Šābuhr or Bēšābūr; in Middle Persian inscriptions: 𐭡𐭩𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 Byšḥpwḥry or 𐭡𐭩𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭫𐭩 Byšḥpwḥly; in Parthian: 𐭅𐭉𐭇𐭔𐭇𐭐𐭅𐭇𐭓 Wyhšhypwhr; in Sogdian: ܘܝݎܫܦܘܪ Wyxšpwr; in Syriac: ܒܝܫܗܒܘܪ; Arabic: بیشابور) was an ancient city in Iran and one of the capitals of the Sasanian Empire, near the city of Kazerun.

former city in Persia

'''Al-Mada'in' (, ; Māḥozā''; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris in what is now Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sasanian Empire. The city's name was used by Arabs as a synonym for the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon, in a tradition that continued after the Arab conquest of Iran.

thumb|300px|Ganzak located on the map of Atropatene. Ganzak is an ancient town founded in northwestern Iran. The city stood somewhere south of Lake Urmia, and it has been postulated that the Persian nobleman Atropates chose the city as his capital. The exact location, according to Minorsky, Schippmann, and Boyce, is identified as being the ruins (37.011555°N, 46.193187°E) at Leylan, Malekan County in the Miandoab plain.

Abiward or Abi-ward, was an ancient Sasanian city in modern-day Turkmenistan. Archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Abiward have been made in the 20th century about 8 km west of Kaka () in an area of 12,000 m2. The central tell is 60 feet high and 700 feet round.thumb|Panorama of the Abiward archeological site

historical town near Merv in Khorasan

Shabaran (also spelled Shaburan and Shaberan; ), was a town and district in the historical region of Shirvan, in what is now the eastern part of Azerbaijan.

Hulwan () was an ancient town on the Zagros Mountains in western Iran, located on the entrance of the Paytak Pass, nowadays identified with the town of Sarpol-e Zahab.

right|thumb|Map of the southwestern Sasanian province of Asoristan and its surroundings Veh-Ardashir (also spelled as Beh-Ardashir and Weh-Ardashir), was an ancient Sasanian city in present-day Iraq, and formed a suburb of their capital, Ctesiphon.

Al-Ubulla (), called Apologou () by the Greeks in the pre-Islamic period, was a port city at the head of the Persian Gulf east of Basra in present-day Iraq. In the medieval period, it served as Iraq's principal commercial port for trade with India.

Kashkar, also known as Kaskar, (), was a city in southern Mesopotamia. Its name appears to originate from Syriac ' meaning "citadel" or "town". Other sources connect it to ' "farming". It was originally built on the Tigris, across the river from the later medieval city of Wasit.

Arrajan (Argan) was a medieval Persian city located between Fars and Khuzestan, which was settled since the civilisation of Elam in the second millennium BCE, and was important from the Sasanian Empire until the 11th century as the capital of a province of the same name that corresponds to present-day Behbahan in Khuzestan province, Iran.

right|thumb|Map of Asoristan and its surrounding provinces Dastagird (also spelled as Dastgerd, Dastigird and Daskara), was an ancient Sasanian city in present-day Iraq, and was close to its capital, Ctesiphon.

thumb|alt=Reishahr|Reishahr Reishahr () or Rev Ardashir () was a city on the Persian Gulf in medieval Iran and is currently an archaeological site near Bushehr. It may be identical to the Antiochia-in-Persis of the Seleucid period, but was refounded by Ardashir I (d.AD224), the first ruler of the Sasanian Empire. In the Church of the East, it was seat of the metropolitan bishop of the province of Fars from at least 424. The name "Rew-Ardashir" means "Rich is Ardashir".

village in Yazd County, Iran

Pushang, also known by its Arabicized form of Bushanj, Bushang, and Fūshanj, was the name of a town in Khorasan, close to Herat in present-day Afghanistan.

right|thumb|300px|Map of the southwestern part of the Sasanian Empire. Valashabad (also spelled as Valakhshkert, Valakhshgerd and Valakhshkard), known in Greek sources as Vologesocerta, and in Arabic sources as Sabat (), was an ancient city in present-day Iraq, and formed a suburb of Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian Empire and their successors, the Sasanian Empire.

Maogamalcha or Maiozamalcha was a fortress located in Mesopotamia. It was attacked and taken by the Roman Emperor Julian (Ammianus Marcellinus xxiv. 4.). It appears to have been strongly fortified and well defended. Zosimus evidently alludes to the same place, though he does not mention it by name, and states it was about 90 stadia from Ctesiphon (Zosimus iii.21). The fortress of Maogamalcha is described as having sixteen large towers or bastions, the solid walls were made of brick and bitumen. Along the walls was a deep ditch which prevented armies from actually climbing into the fortificatio

city near Ctesiphon

Onoguris, renamed as Stephanopolis in the Byzantine period, was a town in Lazica (in present-day western Georgia, possibly located at modern village Khuntsi) recorded by Byzantine historian Agathias in his narration of the Lazic War between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. Its exact location is still under study.

Hdatta or Haditha ( ', '), was a historical city on the East bank of the Tigris just below its confluence with the Upper Zab. The city flourished during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods.

Tawwaj, Tawwaz or Tavvaz (Middle Persian: ; New Persian: ) was a medieval city in Fars (Pars) in modern Iran, located southwest of Shiraz.

Tammisha (also spelled Tamisha or Tammishe; ) was a medieval city in Tabaristan (north of Iran) on the foot of the Alborz mountain, serving as a place of high importance, often being the residence of princes. The city bordered the region of Gurgan, and featured a prominent wall, the Tammisha Wall, built in the Sasanian period. It was long and was stretched from the Gorgan Bay.

thumb|right|Map depicting the Roman-Sasanian borders in Late Antiquity (4th–7th centuries) Bezabde or Bazabde was a fortress city on the eastern Roman frontier. Located in Zabdicene, it played a role in the Roman-Persian Wars of the 4th century. It was besieged two times in 360, narrated in detail by Ammianus Marcellinus. The Sasanians led by Shapur II captured Bezabde, despite adamant resistance from three Roman legions and local archers. The Roman counterattack led by Constantius II failed, but it returned in Roman hands after the Sasanians withdrew. Bezabde was ceded to the Sasanians by the

Vahman-Ardashir or Bahman-Ardashir, also known as Forat Meshan (also spelled as Mayshan, Maysan, Meshun and Maishan), was an ancient town and sub-district in the Sasanian province of Meshan, which is situated in present-day southern Iraq.