Buildings around one of the Silent Towers of Yazd. The old Zoroastrian religion considers the soil as one of the four sacred elements. The bodies of the deceased shall not touch the soil because they would contaminate it. Therefore the dead were placed in the "Silent Towers". Vultures then eat their flesh. Afterwards the bones are moved into a big hole in the middle of the tower. The bones are then fully dissolved with acid.
This practice was stopped about 50 years ago because it was considered unhygienic. The dead are now buried in concrete boxes so that they do not touch the soil.
The buildings around the tower were used by the families of the deceased to prepare the bodies for the ceremonies. They also lived there for several days to do the rituals.