In the year 330 BC, Alexander the Great advanced through the Persian territory, conquering its cities and regions, culminating in the capture of Persepolis. A little further south of the ancient Achaemenid capital was the city of Gor, which offered him such resistance that to surrender it he had to resort to a stratagem, the legend of which is told in Iranian history.

He built a dam in a nearby gorge, retaining the water of a river that crossed the plain in which the city was located, completely flooding it and creating a lake that remained until the beginning of the 3rd century AD, when the first Sassanid Persian king Ardacher tunneled to drain it and destroyed the dam. The plain dried up and the ruins of the city reappeared.

The site of the ancient city of Gor with the pillar at its center. Photo: Amin malekzadeh/Wikimedia