Arg-e Bam

Arg-e Bam
UNESCO World Heritage Site
LocationBam, Iran
Part ofBam and its Cultural Landscape
CriteriaCultural: ii, iii, iv, v
Reference1208
Inscription2004 (28th Session)
Endangered2004–2013
Coordinates29°07′01″N 58°22′07″E / 29.11694°N 58.36861°E / 29.11694; 58.36861
Arg-e Bam is located in Iran
Arg-e Bam
Location of Arg-e Bam in Iran
Arg-e Bam is located in West and Central Asia
Arg-e Bam
Arg-e Bam (West and Central Asia)
The Bam Citadel before and after the 2003 earthquake
Before the earthquake
After the earthquake
After the reconstruction (image from September 2016)

The Arg-e Bam (Persian: ارگ بم), located in the city of Bam, Kerman Province of southeastern Iran, is the largest adobe building in the world. The entire building was a large fortress containing the citadel, but because the citadel dominates the ruins, the entire fortress is now named Bam Citadel.

Listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape", it can be traced back to at least the Achaemenid Empire (sixth to fourth centuries BC). The citadel rose to importance from the seventh to eleventh centuries, as a crossroads along the Silk Road and other important trade routes, and as a producer of silk and cotton garments.[1]

On 26 December 2003, the citadel was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and its environs. A few days after the earthquake, the President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, announced that the citadel would be rebuilt.

  1. ^ "Bam and its Cultural Landscape – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2012-08-26.