A Spatial Analysis of the City of Katha in the Ancient Period Until the First Century Hijri and its Connection with the City of Yazd

There are the only historical narratives of the city of Katha that are mentioned in the historical geography books of the 4th and 5th centuries Hijri. Still, uncertainty prevails about the historical nature and the state of the city in the ancient period and its adaptation to the current situation. In the last century, various opinions were presented with regard to this issue, with some considering Katha in the vicinity of the city of Yazd, and some identifying it as the city as it is. There is no accurate knowledge of the structure and spatial organization of the city. The question is, "What was the spatial structure of the city of Katha, and what will be the result of matching its location with the city of Yazd?" The goal is to know the historical nature of Katha in the middle of the transition period from the ancient to post-Islamic. The research method applied is "historical-analytical". According to the old roads and cities, as well as evidences such as the Jame Mosque of Katha and the closed references of some historians in the following centuries, the location of Katha in the ancient city of Yazd is probable. Its spatial structure evolved around a fence and a rampart and two gates and a rabaz outside the southern gate where the Jama Mosque, the Bazar and the residential structure were built.  Around the city, there were gardens and fields where water from a Qanat (underground aqueduct) flowed. Sharestan, similar to a castle, is probably the remnant of the spatial structure of the Sasanian period, and it is considered be the center of development of the post-Islamic city. These two residential areas were organized at the beginning of the Kakuid rule (5th Century AH) inside the fence with four gates.