Stone Lion (Shir-e Sangi)

The Stone Lion is the oldest monument standing in Hamedan: a large, weather-worn lion carved from a single block of stone, now resting on a plinth in a small garden on a hill in the southeast of the city. It has given its name to the whole neighbourhood and to the square around it.

Its origins are wrapped in legend. A long-standing tradition holds that it was raised on the orders of Alexander the Great in memory of his closest friend Hephaestion, who died at Ecbatana in 324 BC; many scholars date it to the Seleucid or Parthian period that followed. Medieval writers describe it as one of a pair of lions guarding a city gate, the "Lion Gate", and say it was broken when a 10th-century ruler tried to carry it away.

Over the centuries the lion has collected folk beliefs of its own. People have rubbed it for luck, for health, and in hope of marriage or children, and its smooth, darkened surface carries the marks of all those hands. Its legs have long since gone, and its face is softened almost to a silhouette.

The site is small and open at all hours, so it takes only a few minutes — but it is a moving reminder of just how old Hamedan is. Combine it with a walk through the surrounding park.