Alexander's Prison is a ruined madrasa in the heart of the old city, its name derived from a Persian legend with no historical basis — the Ilkhanid-era school was built more than a thousand years after Alexander passed through Iran. The real draw is the atmosphere: a deep circular shaft open to the sky, surrounded by crumbling brick cells and arched galleries draped in the silence of the old city.
The site is small but evocative, and the surrounding streets in this part of the old city are among the most atmospheric in Yazd — narrow lanes, high mud-brick walls, and the occasional glimpse of a domed cistern or wind tower. Worth combining with the adjacent Twelve Imams Cemetery, one of the oldest Shia shrines in Iran, whose distinctive conical tower is visible from several blocks away.