Taq-i Kisra

Taq Kasra تاق کسری
Ruins of Ctesiphon (from the United States Library of Congress)
Location	Ctesiphon, Al-Mada'in, Iraq
Coordinates	33°5′37″N 44°34′51″E / 33.09361°N 44.58083°E / 33.09361; 44.58083Coordinates: 33°5′37″N 44°34′51″E / 33.09361°N 44.58083°E / 33.09361; 44.58083
Height	37 m (121 feet)
Built	540 AD
Architectural style(s)	Persian architecture
Location in Ctesiphon, Iraq

Tāq Kasrā (Persian: طاق کسری‎‎) and Ayvān-e Kasrā (Persian: ایوانِ کسری‎‎); meaning Iwan of Khosrow) are names given to the remains of a Sasanian Persian monument, which is sometimes called the Archway of Ctesiphon. It is located near the modern town of Salman Pak, Iraq. It is the only visible remaining structure of the ancient city of Ctesiphon. The archway is considered to be a landmark in the history of architecture, and is the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world.

The exact time of construction is not known with certainty. Construction possibly began during the reign of Anushiruwan the Just (Khosrow I) after a campaign against the Byzantines in 540 AD. The arched iwan hall, open on the facade side, was about 37 meters high 26 meters across and 50 meters long, the largest man-made, free standing vault constructed until modern times.

The arch was part of the imperial palace complex. The throne room—presumably under or behind the arch—was more than 30 m (110 ft) high and covered an area 24 m (80 ft) wide by 48 m (160 ft) long. The top of the arch is about 1 meter thick while the walls at the base are up to 7 meters thick. It is the largest vault ever constructed in the world. The catenary arch was built without centring. In order to make this possible a number of techniques were used. The bricks were laid about 18 degrees from the vertical which allowed them to be partially supported by the rear wall during construction. The quick drying cement used as mortar allowed the fresh bricks to be quickly supported by those that were previously laid.

The Taq Kasra is now all that remains above ground of a city that was, for seven centuries—from the 2nd century BC to the 7th century AD—the main capital of the Iranian successor dynasties of the Parthians and Sassanids. The structure left today was the main portico of the audience hall of the Sassanids who maintained the same site chosen by the Parthians and for the same reason, namely proximity to the Roman Empire, whose expansionist aims could be better contained at the point of contact.