Takht-e- Aroos

Takht-e-Aroos/ Photo by Nami Namvar

Visit the ‘Bride Throne’ in Mesr Desert

Many guests of the Brandaz Lodge are quite familiar with the Mesr Desert, especially the safari tour into the heart of the sand and ‘Takht-e-Aroos’ (Bride Throne) sand hill.

Ali, the oldest son of the Tabatabai family, and Seyyed Morteza, the uncle of the family, take Barandaz guests everyday on a tour of Mesr Desert to a beautiful location called ‘Takht-e-Aroos’ (Bride Throne) for its unparalleled splendor.

It is 12 kilometers from our village, Farahzad and on the way to reach the Bride, guests can see another striking site, ‘Takht-e-Abbasi’ (Abbasi Throne).

But why ‘throne’? The sand dunes around Farahzad Village are known as thrones since the strong winds have flattened the surface forming peculiar and attractive shapes.

There is no written document as to the origin of the names given to these two places since they have just been called so for years by generations.

In the Safavid era (1501-1736), the region was located on the road to the north-western city of Mashhad. It is said that once, Shah Abbas the Great, the 5^th ruler of the Safavid dynasty, was taking a rest with his servants in the very same area which is known as ‘Abbasi Throne’ today. From there they overlooked the whole plain and hunted gazelles.

One of the commanders of Shah Abbas, called Agha Beyg, who was resting on a flat side of today’s ‘Bride Throne’, was impressed by the beauty of the place and dubbed it as “bride”.

‘Bride Throne’ is formed by piles of aeolian sand and seemingly the tiniest grains of sand are found there.

It is worth mentioning that unfortunately, due to the excessive poaching in the late 1970s, their species went extinct in the area. However, there are still witnesses who confirm existence of gazelles in the region.

Keep in mind that reaching the brides is only possible with an SUV. We always offer our guests to watch the desert sunset or sunrise from over the ‘Bride Throne’.