Alamut

"The would-be killers are called 'Ashishin', and that word provides the clue to the real identity of Aloadin, the Old Man of the Mountain. The castle really existed; it was called Alamut, meaning Eagle's Nest, and is perched on a rock in the Elburz mountains of Iran. There was probably some form of landscaped garden below the castle, in the valley, for a narrow slit in the rock of Alamut leads to a green enclosure with a spring. The Old Man of the Mountain was called Hasan bin Sabah, and it was through him that the word 'assassin' entered the European vocabulary. It is reived from 'hashishim', for it was widely believed that his followers nerved themselves to kill -and be killed- by smoking hashish. (Colin Wilson, A Criminal History of Mankind)"

Photo taken by Carl Michael von Hausswolff.