Rayen is a charming small town full of colored domes of religious buildings. It is close to Kerman and is normally visited for its ancient adobe fortress and as a way to escape from busy streets of the larger city. Arg-e Rayen is one of Iran’s most impressive adobe walls citadel surpassed only by Arg-e Bam which unfortunately was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 2003, thus, making Arg-e Rayen even more impressive for visitors.

Unfortunately, the fortress was abandoned for 150 years until 1996 and after that restoration started. When inside you can see that there is a castle within a castle. There are sections which are ruined, however, wandering through the areas which were restored takes you back to times when powerful rulers stayed here, and you could only reach them through dark passages and hidden inner courtyards. As well as from the wall tops above the gatehouse spectacular view is revealed of a backdrop of Mt Hezar.

With a decent guesthouse and a scattering of places to eat and drink, Rayen has just enough facilities to make it a viable cool-air escape from larger Kerman.