Minaret of Jam

I t is located in a remote and nearly inaccessible region of the Shahrak District, Ghor Province, next to the Hari River, Afghanistan. •The word minaret means lighthouse and also means the tower next to a mosque from which the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. •The 65-metre (213 ft) high minaret was built around 1190. •Covered in elaborate brickwork with a blue tile inscription at the top, it is noteworthy for the quality of its architecture and decoration, which represent the culmination of an architectural and artistic tradition in this region. •The Minaret of Jam belongs to a group of around 60 minarets and towers built between the 11th and the 13th centuries in Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. •The archaeological site of Jam was successfully nominated as Afghanistan’s first World Heritage site in 2002. •It was also inscribed in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in Danger. •In 2014, the BBC reported that the tower was in imminent danger of collapse. Photo by David Adamec