Shahr-e Zohak
Hill Fort · Bamyan, Bamyan
The "Red City": a great fortress of crimson mud-brick towers rising from red cliffs above the confluence of the Bamyan and Kalu rivers, guarding the eastern gate of the Bamyan valley. Its defences — honeycombed galleries, arrow-slit towers grown out of the living cliff — date in their final form to the Shansabani era before Genghis Khan's armies broke the valley in 1221, on foundations centuries older. It is the most dramatic ruin in the valley system and one component of the UNESCO serial property, reached by a short climb from the Kabul road.
Confluence of the Bamyan and Kalu rivers, Shashpul, Bamyan, Bamyan, Afghanistan
Informal daylight access; occasional keeper at the path foot. Climb only in dry conditions and descend before dusk. Nothing is published.