When we walk through the tunnels of the underground city of Nushabad (Nooshabad), we are going back from modern-day Iran to ancient history. Its walls echo the memories of the Sassanid era, and perhaps even its predecessors.
Close to Kashan City, there is a mysterious underground city namedNushabad! Nushabad City, concealed underground, was built 1500 years ago, by order of Anushiruwān, Sassanid king. Three floors with strange halls, food storages, water, fat-burning lights and even toilets were constructed by hand digging by the local people for long time residence of local people for protection against foes and invaders, but not for the normal life! They would use it only in threatening situations. They have got a really fabulous and unique city engineering and road designs into use to prevent simple crossing in the footpaths, so that the invaders and foreign people and whoever was not familiar with this city construction would lose easily its way, like a maze!
Above some rooms in Nushabad city are trapdoors with lids for emergency exits and enters. This city has two main enters, which one of them is hidden in a water storehouse. The main road is like a U and at different depth level! This path design would prevent offensives.
With the passage of time, the underground city became more than a place where the inhabitants of the area could obtain freshwater or get rid of the heat. Nushabad also served as a refuge during times of war. Over the centuries, numerous invaders arrived in the region. The Mongol invasion of Iran during the thirteenth century is a clear example of this. When these invaders arrived in the city ‘on the ground’ they found it empty, since its inhabitants had fled to the underground city. We know that Nushabad was used in this way throughout the history of Iran, even the Qajar period. This Unusual City with its surprising road map is one of the adventurous attractions in Iran.