-Political geography of Garmeh city:

Garmeh County is located in the southwest of North Khorasan Province and is bordered by Maneh and Samalqan County from the north, Golestan Province from the northwest, Semnan Province from the west, and Jajarm County from the south and east. This county, with an area of ​​2,300 square kilometers, has 3 cities, 23 villages, and 77 settlements. The economy of this region is mainly based on agriculture, animal husbandry, and in recent decades, transportation and industries. Due to the climatic conditions, agriculture in most areas of the county is irrigated, and the main crops are wheat, barley, sugar beets, cotton, sunflowers, cumin, and various vegetables and garden products. The population of this county in 2011 was estimated at 24,599 people.

-Natural geography of Garmeh city:

Garmeh County is generally considered a dry area due to its annual rainfall and has a cold, dry, and semi-desert climate. There is no permanent river in this area, and the region’s agriculture is based on irrigation with aqueducts and deep and semi-deep wells. The highlands in the north of the county, which extend from east to west on the northern edge of the county, are sometimes more than 2,000 meters high, and in general, in areas such as the plain and the Qara-Bil plain, this has created a milder and more humid climate. Despite this, a significant part of the climate of this region is desert and steppe.

-پیشینه تاریخی شهرستان گرمه:

شهرستان گرمه به لطف موقعیت راهبردی خود بر سر راه­های کاروانرو هماره مورد توجه قرار داشته و از دوران پیش از تاریخ تا ادوار متاخر اسلامی به طور پیوسته نقش بارزی را در تکامل فرهنگی خطۀ خراسان ایفا کرده است. وجود محوطه­های بزرگ از دوره­های مس- سنگی و عصر مفرغ از قبیل منجاق تپه و تپه­های پیش از تاریخی در سراسر دهستان گلستان از جمله استقرارهای پیش از تاریخی در اطراف روستای دشت در پهنۀ شهرستان گرمه آن را به یکی از مهم ترین استقرارگاه ­های بشری در خراسان شمالی بدل کرده است. پراکندگی زیاد محوطه ­های باستانی مربوط به دوران اشکانی و ساسانی در این شهرستان، از شکوفایی این خطه در دوره تاریخی با بهره ­گیری از موقعیت مناسب آن بر سر راه ابریشم و معادلات سیاسی و تجاری آن دوران حکایت دارد. وجود محوطه ­های وسیع و فراوان از دوره­ اسلامی از جمله ویرانه­های مربوط به چندین قلعه در اطراف شهر درق از قبیل محوطه­ خواجه سنگاور، نارنج قلعه و بسیاری آثار دیگر، در کنار گزارش­های مورخان و جغرافیدانان دوره اسلامی مبنی بر آبادانی این دوره نشان از رونق و شکوفایی این منطقه در سراسر دورۀ اسلامی دارد. نزدیکی این منطقه به مراکز قدرت­های محلی همچون جاجرم و اسفراین شکوفایی این خطه را دامن زده و باعث رشد فرهنگی آن شده بود. وجود چندین کاروانسرا و رباط همچون رباط عشق، رباط قره بیل و رباط دشت و نیز حوض ­انبار و آب انبارهای ساخته شده در مسیر راه ­های اصلی و فرعی برای استفاده مسافرین و کاروانیان، به بهترین وجهی شکوفایی منطقه در سده ­های میانی اسلامی را بازگو می ­کند. این منطقه تا اواخر دوره قاجار اهمیت خود را حفظ نمود تا اینکه با ورود تجهیزات حمل و نقل مدرن، احداث راه ­های ترانزیتی و در پی آن حذف شبکۀ راه ­های قدیم و متروک ماندن راه­های کاروانرو و کاروانسراها به تدریج از اهمیت آن کاسته شد و به سرعت افول کرد.

Jalaluddin Garme Castle Museum

Registration number in the National Monuments List: 1577

Location: End of Imam Reza Boulevard (AS)

Jalaluddin Castle is considered one of the most prominent military castles in North Khorasan, built in the 7th-6th centuries AH. This castle was built with stone and mortar in the form of a regular hexagon on a rough and rocky surface of a high hill. The geographical location of the castle on the connecting road to important cities and centers in the northeast of the Iranian plateau such as Neyshabur, Jorjan, Merv and Khorezm doubled the strategic importance of the castle.

Jalaluddin Castle is unique in its architectural dimensions, and its rampart is nearly 3 meters thick at the lower level and up to a height of 5 meters. The total height of the rampart on the eastern side is about 15 meters.

In addition, a well about 3 meters in diameter was dug in the western corner of the castle courtyard, which may have provided the castle’s inhabitants with access to a permanent water source. Given the rocky bed of the castle, digging this well into the rock was undoubtedly an engineering feat of its time.

Considering that the castle is known as “Jalaluddin Castle” and that it cannot be attributed with certainty to any of the famous figures of Jalaluddin in Iranian history, on the eastern side of the museum on the first floor, descriptions of the lives and works of famous figures of Jalaluddin are introduced to visitors in the form of panels.

One of the unique features of this castle-museum that distinguishes it from similar examples in terms of content is the method of reciting and telling stories, which is a type of Iranian religious and national performance. In this performance, a visual story engraved on the curtains inside each tower is narrated in a narrative style, during which the historical events of the Mongol era and the sufferings of religious saints are recounted in melodious words.

The towers in the museum are dedicated to this type of storytelling, and each tower has a screen with a separate story. A unique feature of this museum is the use of a digital system to broadcast this type of storytelling in each tower separately.

Other exhibition areas of the museum are located on the tour routes, which allows visitors to get up close and personal with the characteristics of military architecture, the materials used, the historical vats placed within the castle walls, and finally the defensive methods of historical castles, while moving along the route and to the highest parts of the castle.

Love bond

Location: Rabat Eshgh Village, Garmeh County

Registration number in the National Monuments List: 11062

The Love Caravanserai or Ribat is one of several historical Ribats in Garmeh city, built during the Timurid period on the highway connecting Gorgan and Neyshabur. Available evidence shows that during the Timurid period, there was an older caravanserai at this location, dating back to at least the 5th-4th centuries AH, and due to extensive destruction, the current Ribat was built next to it on the orders of Mir Ali Shir Navai, the minister of the court of Sultan Hussein Bayqara. The existing caravanserai has a rectangular plan and its central courtyard is a four-iwan courtyard surrounded on all sides by numerous pavilions and rooms for the caravansers to rest, as well as stables for their livestock. The main materials of the building are stone, mortar, and brick, and its overall design is very similar to the Qoli Ribat.

The storage basin of the nose of the trail

Registration number in the National Monuments List: 23258

Location: 13 kilometers west of Daragh city, Garmeh county

This storage pond is made of rubble stone and lime mortar and consists of two main parts, including the entrance vestibule and the water tank, which is covered with a semicircular arch and a simple dome. The storage pond, which is considered one of the public buildings of the Qajar period in the region, was built to store rainwater along an old road and has long supplied the water needed by travelers and local shepherds. There are several examples of these storage ponds along the road, which today have lost their original use with the introduction of advanced transportation equipment into the field of human life and the obsolescence of the caravan communication system.

Garmeh Mazar Garden Tomb

Registration number in the National Monuments List: ۱۳۸۰

Location: Garmeh County, Garmeh City Center

The Bagh-e-Mazar tomb is one of the unique works of the 7th century AH in Garmeh city, and it is not known which personality is buried in it. This building was built with brick and plaster mortar and was located in the center of a garden during the Abadani period. The plan of the building is a four-arched domed type, which is square on the inside and octagonal on the outside. The four corners of the building are decorated with decorative arches consisting of two long arms with a protruding crown, each arm forming one of the pillars of the porch arch. The style of upright brickwork in the arches, elephant-covered walls, and dome facades is unique in the region. The overall shape of the building indicates that this was the burial place of a great and influential personality in the region, which it is hoped will be identified in the future through historical and archaeological studies.

Qarabal’s rope

Registration number in the National Monuments List: ۴۵۷۴

Location: Garmeh County, Rabat Ghare Bil Village

The caravanserai or Qara Bil caravanserai is another historical caravanserai in Garmeh city, which most likely dates back to the 5th-4th centuries AH and is mentioned in historical texts as the Amlotlu caravanserai. Later, during the Timurid period, when the ancient Gorgan-Neyshabur highway was being restored to access Mashhad, by order of the minister and with the guidance of the Timurid court, Mir Alishir Navai, caravanses were built along this route or old caravanses were renovated. In this process, the Qara Bil caravanserai was also expanded and, with the addition of new sections, was revived and used by travelers. This caravanserai was built with stone, mortar, plaster and brick materials and has a rectangular plan with two large and small courtyards. Numerous pavilions were built around the large courtyard, the roof of which is covered with a dome and the ceiling is decorated with beautiful plaster carvings.

Daraq Mosque

Registration number in the National Monuments List: ۱۷۳۸۷

Location: Garmeh County, Daragh City

Daragh Grand Mosque is considered one of the valuable religious-historical monuments of Garmeh city, which was built during the Safavid period. This small mosque is built with traditional architectural patterns and brick and mud materials, and its roof is covered with a series of curved arches. In the middle of the building, there are four large square columns on which the bases of the large central dome are placed.

Ivor Jame Mosque

Registration number in the National Monuments List: ۱۷۳۸۴

Location: Garmeh County, Ivar City

The Grand Mosque of Ivar is another religious-historical monument in Ivar city, which was built in 1171 AH according to the inscription inside the building. The mosque is built with brick and mud materials and its roof is covered with small domes whose bases are placed on seven columns and six large circular semi-columns. The stone inscription mentions the founder of the Rahimbek Mosque and its architect as Qanbar Ali Agha Khorasani.

Ancient site of Qale Dehi

Registration number in the National Monuments List: ۱۸۸۳۷

موقعیت: شهرستان گرمه، ۱ کیلومتری شمال شرق شهر درق

This area is the remains of a rectangular brick and mud castle with an area of ​​about half a hectare. The main gate of this castle was located on the eastern side and its fence had towers and ramparts in different parts, which have now turned into a mound of soil due to erosion. Archaeological surveys and the study of pottery scattered in the area show that this castle was inhabited and life was going on in it during the 8th-6th centuries AH.