Khorramabad, city in western Iran, located in the Zagros Mountains, and capital of the province of Lorestan. Khorramabad is a market center for the farm products of the region and an industrial center manufacturing synthetic fibers and processed foods. The city sits on a major highway that connects it to Tehran, Esfahan, and the major cities of western Iran. The city is home to the Black Fortress, the ruins of a fort-palace complex built between the mid-12th and 15th centuries and used as the official residence of Lorestan's governors for more than 400 years.
Khorramabad is one of the world's oldest inhabited cities for which there is archaeological evidence. The famous Lorestan bronzes (4000? BC) were recovered in the early 20th century from a nearby site. Because the city is situated strategically in a river gap of the Zagros Mountains, it has been used for passage between the lowland plain of Khuzestan and the highland central plateau, and thus has been the site of many battles over the centuries. The last major battles involving ground forces were in the early 20th century between central government troops and rebellious Lur tribesmen. The city also suffered aerial bombardment and missile attacks during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Population (1996) 272,815.
