Fortress of Hissor

Hissor (or Hissar, Gissar) is situated 27 km southwest from Dushanbe and 8 km south from Hissor city is one of the main historical site of Tajikistan and includes : Hissar fort with ark built in XVI century; the Registan square; old madrassah-i Kuhna built in XVI century and its museum and another madrassah built in XVIII century; a caravanserai built in 1808; the mosque Sangin; the mausoleum of Mahdumi Abzam built in the XVI century, over the grave of Khdja Muhhamad Haivoki.

Hissor fortress was  the residence of the Governor of Emir Ibrahim Bey until 1924, when he was defeated by the red army. The fortress walls were 1 meter thick and protecting a palace, terrace, a garden and a water pool, but today we can see only the monumental gates built of burnt bricks with two cylinder towers and lancet arch between them. This type of architecture is typical for most of Bukhara buildings built within XVIII-XIX cc. 

The fortified complex has undergone various reconstructions, renovations and additions. Historical documents indicate a fort in Hissor as early as 1000 BC, other records of the fort relate to the time when Cyrus the Great founded the first Persian Empire (around 550 BC).