Alamut Castle

Alamut is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian province of Qazvin near the Masoudabad region in Iran, approximately 200 km from present-day Tehran.In 1090 AD, Alamut Castle was seized as a mountain fortress under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah, and until 1256 it was the site of intense activity for the Assassins, functioning as the headquarters of the Nizari Isma'ili state, which included of a series of strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, with each stronghold being surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory.

Alamut, which is the most famous of these strongholds, was thought impregnable to any military attack and was fabled for its heavenly gardens, library, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate in intellectual freedom.The stronghold survived adversaries including the Seljuq and the Khwarezmian empires.