Shahpour Cave

Such an amazing place to visit.
90min of hiking to the cave.
Get 1 litter of water with you.

An unbelievable historical site!!! Visiting Shapour Cave is a combination of mountain climbing and ancient site visiting. It takes 45 min to 1 h to reach from the carpark to the cave and you need 30 min to explore the cave. The path is really challenging and you need to be fit. Best time is early morning when its quiet and not warm. Highly recommended!!!

it's very old place abut king shapor life story

To get to the cave, one should enter Tang Chogân through a road exactly off the northern Bishapur and east of the Shapur river.

Shapur river originates off Arzhan mountains and runs into the Persian Gulf. Some 25 kms to Shiraz-Kazerun road, the river passes through a narrow passage called Tang Choogan and continues towards south by the city of Bishapur.
After 6 kms on the road by the eastern bank of the river which leads to the Sasan village, there is the cave. A bridge is constructed on the river at Sasan village and the cave is west to the village by the foot of Shapur mountain (1,560m high). From the road, alongside the river near the divide of the mountain, two caves close to each other can be seen. The triangle shape of one of them is a little bigger than the other one and the bigger opening is the Cave of Shapur. The statue of Emperor Shapur I, the Great (CE 241-272), made 1800 years ago, is set up inside the cave. The visitors who have no mountaineering experiences, judging from the opening might think the cave is only a small split on the mountain wall while the cave has one of the biggest openings in Iran.

Having passed through the narrow lanes in the village, you could reach the cave after an hour and a half's walk. The route to the cave is rocky and sharply steep. However, the higher parts of the mountain are covered with trees exclusively belonging to forests at the Zagros Mountain. The trees reduce the difficulty of climbing.

Near the end of the ascend, a staircase has been built by responsible organizations which is equipped with iron fences to prevent visitors from falling. The staircase eases the closing parts of ascent to a very great extent. At the end of the stairs the opening to the cave discloses itself all of sudden.

To reach the Shapur I Cave you will have to walk for approximately 1h30 from the Shahpour village. The best time of the day to start your hike is around 6:00 AM when the air is fresch and you can still walk in the shadow of the surrounding mountains.
Visiting the cave is free, but you better walk with a local guide. The fee for the local guide may be in the order of 7$.
The views during the walk and from the entrance of the cave are stunning, especially with the early morning light.
Although the 8m hihg statue of Shapur I at the entrance of the cave has been damaged in the past and not always restaured very well, it is quite impressive. Behind the statue there is a barrier with indications saying "Do not go any further". If you are on your own, I would certainly recommend you to follow that advice. However, if you are walking with a local guide, these know to find their way throughout the dark cave. In that case also take with you a torch with sufficient batter power to have light for the whole of your visit.

Great place to hike and explore. Breathtaking view from top. Try to go with local guide. Shiraz Guide (guidepersia.ir) arranged a nice tour for us.

Shapur Cave is located at the end of Tang Chogan and four kilometers from the city of Bishapur in the city of Kazron, the most important capital of the Sassanids, at a height of about 800 meters above the ground, and its opening is about 30 meters. At the mouth of this cave, there is a statue of Shapur I (the second Sassanid king) and that is why this cave is known as Shapur. The statue of Shapur was carved from a giant abstract column that existed in this cave and it is still standing despite the passage of 1700 years and it is the only remaining statue from ancient Iran which is about 7 meters high. After years, the head of this statue is still intact, but its two hands are broken. The statue was overturned and was put back in its place in 1336 by the Iranian Imperial Army and by order of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. This statue shows Shapur standing.

after climbing 800 meters ( you walk 2200 meters ) you will see a huge cave and a tall great sculpture is standing in the beginning. I can't imagine some thing like that will be seen some where els. if you walk slowly you will enjoy the way and you will get there in almost one hour or less. usually there is a Cultural heritage guard there so you will be safe up there.

It was a little hard, but you'll enjoy it. It's an amazing place, Never miss it. You'll need a whole day to visit this place and Sassanian sculptures and Bishapur Ancient City. What's more, it's really really beautiful in Spring

2 hours mountain climbing going up and 1 hours exploring the cave and resting (do not forget a powerful torch) 1.5 hours coming down. You almost need to specify a day to bishapur.

Was expecting after Walking a long way and seeing Shahpour statue

The Shapoor Cave is great place to see, to get there you need to hike for one and half hour and take a water bottle or any thing helps you to hike,
the staircases you see in pictures of internet are just at the cave opening but most of the path is rocky

visiting Shapour cave is combination with mountain climbing and ancient site visiting which take you almost one day.
An artistic statue was carved inside this cave in time of Sassanid empire that is amazing.
Firstly, you have to visit Kashkuli village and move to the hillside at the end of the driving path. You find the sign of cave in the foothill.After about one hour and a half walking you will reach a staircase near the cave that facilitates your access to the cave. The height of Shapur cave is about 800 meters from the sea level.

After this hard walking, an about six-meter statue appears in front of you, in the entrance of the cave that was carved artistically. Shapur statue is the tallest sculpture that is remained from Sassanid empire and years before. The entrance of the cave is approximately 30 meters and the statue shines like a jewel.

you must bring a appropriate headlight and shoes for visiting the cave which is intresting.
The Best months to visit the cave are February, March and October.

An incredible mountain hiking experience heading to the Shapur,s cave, There you'll visit the 7 meters long Statue which is about 1700 years old.

2 hours climbing to reach to the cave. In front of cave there are some locals who take you inside the cave, ofcourse after paying them. Wonderfull

It was amazing to see the statue of the most powerful king of Sasanid dynasty.
A bit hard to reach the cave but it worth

Be sure to try once

Don't forget the mountain shoes and strong flashlight for the inside of the cave ... it is very special

It has two hours of steep climbing

After 2 hours climbing the mountain you will see the statue of Shahpur I in 7 meters height.

A great historical place .nice to hike and see an amazing ancient place

You need more than 3 hours to visit this place. You must climb up to the a mountain