Mubarakabad

Mubarakabad, also known as Aqqala or the White Fortress, stands on the Gorgan River in the open plain north of Astarabad. Local tradition credits Shah Abbas I with founding the settlement in the early seventeenth century. A brick bridge of the Safavid period spans the river, while the remains of the old fortress recall the defensive importance of this place on the edge of the Turkmen steppe.