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The Citadel of Herat ((ペルシア語:ارگ هرات), Pashto سکندرۍ کلا), also known as the Citadel of Alexander, and locally known as Qala Iktyaruddin ((ペルシア語:قلعه اختیارالدین)), is located in the center of Herat in Afghanistan. It dates back to 330 BC, when Alexander the Great and his army arrived to what is now Afghanistan after the Battle of Gaugamela. Many empires have used it as a headquarters in the last 2,000 years, and was destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. This historic citadel was saved from demolition in the 1950s, and was excavated and restored by UNESCO between 1976 and 1979. From decades of wars and neglect, the citadel began to crumble but in recent years several international organizations decided to completely rebuild it. The ''National Museum of Herat'' is also housed inside the citadel, while the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture is the caretaker of the whole premises.〔 ==History== Herat, in the fertile valley of Hari River (Hari Rud), was settled as early as the sixth century BC. A mound located to the north of the Old City, known as Kuhandazh may have been the site of the fort that Alexander the Great built in 330 BC following his conquest of the Achaemenid city known as Artacoana or Aria. After the depart of Alexander, Herat was ruled by the Seleucids, Parthians, Kushans, Sasanians, Hephthalites, Umayyads, Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids, Seljuk, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids. Located half a kilometer to the south of Kuhandaz and aligned with the cardinal axes, the walled city described by early Arab geographers had four gates leading into crossing commercial avenues and a square citadel (qal'a) adjoining the northern city wall. This citadel, which has been suggested as another possible site for Alexander's fort, is known today as the famous ''Citadel of Herat''. Herat thrived with the Silk Road trade from the Levant to India and China, and became an important city of the Ghurid dynasty in 1175. The city was destroyed entirely in 1221 by the Mongol army and rebuilt by the Kartid governors who established their rule based in Herat by the mid-thirteenth century. Kartid Amir Fakhr al-Din (reg. 1295-1308) in 1299/1300 reinforced the citadel's towers, walls, ramparts and moat, and added a walled maidan to its west to serve as an open-air mosque (idgah). His successor Ghiyath al-Din (reg. 1308-1329) built two palaces inside the citadel to the east. The name ''Ikhtiyar al-Din'', which refers to both the eastern and western enclosures, is thought to be the name or epithet of a Kartid amir or military commander. Destroyed a second time by Timur's army (1380), the citadel was rebuilt after Shah Rukh (reg. 1405-1444) moved his capital to Herat and began a building campaign. He reinforced the citadel in stone and fired brick and covered its exterior with glazed tiles. The citadel was used as a royal residence, treasury, prison and arsenal under the Hotaki dynasty/Durrani Empire in the 18th century. It suffered some damage during the Anglo-Afghan War in the 19th century. A modern citadel (''Arg-e Herat'') was built immediately to its north in the mid-19th century to take over its defensive function. The citadel was saved from demolition in the 1950s, and was excavated and restored by UNESCO between 1976 and 1979.〔 It suffered more damages during the last decades of wars and neglect. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Herat Citadel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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