Qanat-e Zarch West Branch (Yazd Zarch Qanat Western Gallery)
قنات زارچ غربی · Zarch West Qanat · Western Zarch Branch
Ilkhanid branch on Achaemenid–Sasanian trunk·Ilkhanid Yazd (branch) on Persian qanat tradition·🇮🇷 Yazd Province, Yazd–Zarch Corridor, West Branch Gallery, Iran
About
About Qanat-e Zarch West Branch (Yazd Zarch Qanat Western Gallery)
Western branch gallery of Qanat-e Zarch (Zarch Qanat) 5 km west of Yazd (1,190 m), the world's longest qanat (71 km, 2,115 shafts) and core of 2016 Persian Qanat UNESCO inscription 1476 (11 qanats, Zarch is longest). West branch is 11.2 km side gallery diverging from kilometre 8 of main Zarch tunnel, with 180 shafts 12–28 m deep, feeding Yazd south gardens and Amir Chakhmaq cisterns. Gallery 1.0×1.6 m with sarooj-mortar floor, surveyed 2015 GIZ with 0.08% gradient. West branch added c.1300 CE Ilkhanid to supplement main 700 BCE–Sasanian trunk.
Why it mattersLongest qanat's western branch documenting Ilkhanid augmentation of 2,700-yr trunk — UNESCO 1476 core.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 010.08% gradient over 11.2 km — medieval leveling method
Theories
- 01Water-bowl leveling chain
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1300 CE branch; main Zarch 700 BCE–600 CE trunk
- Period
- Ilkhanid branch on Achaemenid–Sasanian trunk
- Culture
- Ilkhanid Yazd (branch) on Persian qanat tradition
- Builders
- Ilkhanid Yazd engineers supplementing ancient Zarch trunk
- Purpose
- Supplementary gallery to augment Zarch main flow to Yazd south gardens and Amir Chakhmaq
- Abandoned
- partially operating (west branch seasonal)
- Rediscovered
- 2016 Persian Qanat UNESCO 1476 inscription; 2015 GIZ gradient survey 0.08%
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
700 BCE
Zarch main trunk initiated Achaemenid
1300 CE
Ilkhanid west branch 11.2 km added
On the ground
Structures & features
31.9700° N · 54.1800° E · 1190 m · 2 mapped features
Zarch West Shaft 87
shaft28-m deep shaft 87 on west branch 6 km from bifurcation
31.9720° N · 54.1780° EAmir Chakhmaq Cistern Feed
reservoirYazd south cistern fed by west branch terminus at Amir Chakhmaq
31.8900° N · 54.3600° E
Gallery