One of the mysterious historical sites of Iran, which is attributed to different historical periods, is Dashkasan Temple in Zanjan. This site is located 17 km southeast of the ancient city of Soltanieh in Zanjan, above the village of Wir, and archaeologists discovered it in 1973. From 1990 to 1992, archaeologists worked on this site, every year for less than a month. but the 45-day excavation in 1994 shows a clearer picture of this site. Dashkasan Temple has been registered on the list of national monuments of Iran with the number 1019.
Dashksen is an expression in the Azeri language in which "Dash" means "stone" and "Kasan" means "carver" or "cutter" and its combination means stonecutter or stone-carver, which is taken from a stone mine in the surrounding fields; A mine that has been exploited for a long time until today. The locals also call this building "Shirin and Farhad" but there is no documented historical reason or narration for this naming.
Dashkasan building is built in an area of 614 square meters and is surrounded by stone walls that distinguish it from other buildings in the region. The plan of the temple is rectangular with a length of 400 and a width varying from 300 to 50 meters from north to south. From a horizontal point of view, there are three stone caves in this place, which are located on a semicircle with a diameter of 39.40 meters. Two caves are located on the sides of the building and a cave is located between these two caves at a distance of 26.75 meters from them. On the left side of the cave, which is located on the right side of the semicircle, there is an altar 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. At a distance of 90 cm from this altar, a rectangular cube 5.9 m long and 1.9 m wide has been carved, in which a carved stone dragon can be seen. The dragon is placed inside the cube and in the margin of it, decorative lace-shaped designs have been worked. This huge dragon is the cause of the fame of the temple of Dashkasan and also the reason for its importance and position. Because for the first time in the Islamic era, we see the drawing of a dragon not on tiles but on natural stone. In other works of this period, even in Takht-e Soleyman, the dragon is depicted on the tile. Dashkasan Temple is built in the heart of the mountain and has no building materials other than natural cut stone. On the walls of this temple, motives such as trees, flowers, shrubs and pear trees have been carved, which is important in terms of similarity or dissimilarity to other stone works and stucco designs.
A number of decorative columns have been found in this area and there is a swimming pool in the heart of it, which is still filled with water in spring. Another interesting point about the Dashkasan building is that the construction and decoration work was abandoned before it was completed and the sculptors left the place. Regarding the antiquity and historical connection of this building, several hypotheses have been proposed that the temple is an Islamic site and belongs to the period of Ilkhanid. But the region dates back to pre-Islamic times and has had a sacred place among the people ever since. This area seems to have flourished at a time when the Mithraism was very common.
Some also believe that this building was dug in the heart of the mountain before the Achaemenid period and became a Khanqah during the Mongols. These theorists attribute the sculptures of the Dashkasan Temple to the time of Sultan Mohammad Khodabandeh (1578-1587). Experts consider the designs of this place to be corresponding to the reliefs of Taq-e bostan.
If you decide to visit this amazing area, you should know that these rocks are located in the mountains of Soltanieh, 15 km northeast of the city of Soltanieh. At the same time, you can see the magnificent Dome of Soltanieh. Due to the cold weather of Zanjan region, it is better to choose spring or summer seasons for this trip.