Main Gateway by Hamed Saber

<b>HORMOZGAN GATHERING, DAY 4:</b> And the last shot of Portuguese castle in Hormoz island. We are going out of the main gateway now :) This view is from inside the same gateway as you see the outside view of it <a href="http://up.flickr.com/photos/hamed/2328104669/">here</a>. The Portuguese castle in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrmoz_Island">Hormoz island</a> is one of the greatest monuments near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandar_Abbas">BandarAbbas</a>. It was built in 1507 on order of admiral Alfonso Albokurk, Portuguese commander of the region. They built the castle using local people as slaves and the building process lasted 30 years. As you can see on geotagged map (zoom to highest level), the castle is built at furthermost point of northern cape of Hormoz island - the most strategic location of the region, to guarantee the Portuguese rulership of the strait and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandar_Abbas">BandarAbbas</a> port. The castle includes a large sweet water reservoir (the most in need part at such hot weather and salty water!), some depots, lots of barracks with arc shaped roofs, a big prison including some nested rooms, a very beautiful church built of corals, some great hall, a bunch of forts, and a luxe commander seat. Finally this castle conquered and captured by Iranian soldiers under commandment of Imam Gholi Khan in 1622, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_dynasty">Safavid era</a>. <i>This shot is related to my day by day itinerary of our journey to Hormozgan, during <a href="http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/418807/">7th Iranian Flickr Gathering: Hormozgan</a>. Wait for more photos of each day of journey at upcoming near future ;)</i>