Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd make Iran a must-see on your travel bucket list

“The architectural masterpieces of Isfahan are unsurpassed,” wrote Iranologist Roger Savory in The World of Islam. It’s a big call, but then when I heard that Isfahan’s Imam Square is three times bigger than St Mark’s in Venice – well, it was more than enough to pique my interest in an exotic corner of the world that had not previously crossed my holiday radar.

Europe, the United States or Japan are where my husband and I usually try to head mid-year when cabin fever sets in. Last year, however, we opted for Iran.

A friend who had done an organised tour a few months earlier couldn’t stop raving about this off-the-tourist-trail nation of 81 million people.

Language barriers (Farsi was not on my high-school curriculum), the inability to use debit or credit cards and the sheer foreignness of Iran meant that independent travel would be tricky. So we contacted the tour guide of said friend privately, gave her the time we had available (12 days), a couple of key places that had come recommended, and left it to her to work her magic.

Children play in the pool and fountains of Isfahan’s vast Naqsh-e Jahan Square. Alamy

Eye candy

We started in Tehran, before moving to Kashan, Isfahan, Yazd and Shiraz. It was Isfahan, roughly 430 kilometres south of Tehran in the centre of Iran, that blew us away. With its huge square and towering, tile-studded mosque, Isfahan seemed like another world after the chaos and grit of Tehran. Yes, it was touristy by Iranian standards, but that’s not saying much and bus tour groups of mainly French and Germans were easy to avoid.

In the late 16th century, Isfahan was proclaimed the capital of Persia by Shah Abbas I. He was considered the most powerful monarch of one of the greatest Persian dynasties, and built accordingly.

The architectural eye candy was mesmerising: from the many bridges dotting the (mostly dry) Zayandeh River – including the plain brick Allahverdi Khan Bridge, with its famed 33 arches – to the Vank Cathedral, a frescoed church that comprises a stunning fusion of Armenian and Islamic architecture.

Not knowing what to expect other than a large square and an impressive mosque, we were led down an unusually evenly paved road (most of Isfahan’s footpaths could be kindly described as rubble chic) lined with cafes and trinket shops. Suddenly, the road opened into a square of jaw-dropping proportions, enclosed on all four sides by a two-storey arcade. The top floor, we later discovered, is a folly – nothing more than a facade.

“The road opened into a square of jaw-dropping proportions”: Isfahan’s Imam Square is one of the world’s largest city squares. 

Naqsh-e Jahan Square – commonly known as Imam Square – is one of the largest city squares in the world. In its centre is a pool adorned with fountains, an essential feature of Iranian gardens. Rows of trees run the length of it, many of them topiaried. The trees and vast lawns create an air of coolness and tranquillity, providing a welcome respite from the lingering heat of the day.

Our first visit to the square was late in the afternoon and locals were picnicking, strolling, gasbagging on their phones, eating ice-cream, sketching or just taking the air. Meanwhile, our little party of four just gaped in awe.

The square is surrounded by four of the city’s most important buildings and after a few paces our eyes were drawn to the right, where a blue jewel shot up into the sky. It was the facade of Imam Mosque.

Probably the finest example of Islamic architecture in a country brimming with mosques and shrines, this masterpiece is famed for its seven-coloured mosaic tiles, honeycombed dome, stone carvings and inscriptions. Like the city square it borders, it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Imam Mosque is famed for its intricate mosaic tiles and honeycombed dome. Alamy

At the opposite end of the square lies the Isfahan bazaar, one of the largest and oldest in the Middle East, with parts of it dating back more than 1000 years. The other two sides of the square are flanked by the Ali Qapu palace and the private mosque of the royal court.

Friendly locals

The next evening we went for a stroll through a couple of kilometres of the bazaar, making our way to Jameh Mosque, which has its beginnings in the late eighth century.

Arriving as the call to prayer was being sounded, we sat in the courtyard, watching the locals make a last-minute dash inside. A family who were not inclined to join the formal prayers asked to have their photos taken with us, their young daughter acting as interpreter. Pretty soon, we were all laughing and gesturing as if we were long-separated friends. It made for a magical evening and it was hard to drag ourselves away from this precious glimpse into local life.

The warmth and friendliness of Iranians is a constant. Shutterstock

Then again, their warmth and friendliness was typical of Iranians the country over. Locals regularly came up to us for a photo or a chat. Students would describe their plans to move abroad in search of decent-paying jobs.

Aware of their homeland’s status as a pariah state, many Iranians just wanted assurance that we liked their country. And that’s something everyone, tourists and locals alike, can understand.

Persian hits

The food
Kebabs quickly became our go-to lunchtime dish, and we found it hard to choose between saffron chicken, marinated lamb, minced lamb and cutlet kebabs. Pomegranates are also on tap and we had a juice most days. We also fell in love with saffron rice, the plethora of flatbreads, fesenjan stews (chicken stew with walnuts and pomegranate sauce), kashk e bademjan (cooked eggplant with curd) and ghormeh sabzi (lamb stew with myriad herbs and dried limes).

Jewelled rice is a traditional Persian dish named for its gemstone colours.

We had two of our most memorable meals at the Malek Soltan Jarchibashi restaurant in Isfahan. It’s in a renovated 400-year-old bathhouse that comes complete with vaulted ceilings, fountains and tiled floors. The special lamb biryani (flavoured with traditional spices) with broth was gorgeously rich, and a cooking course in a local guide’s apartment was another delicious hit.

Yazd
Another former capital, Yazd is the driest city in Iran. The surrounding desert is lifeless but the city was once watered by thousands of underground canals. Above ground, Yazd is characterised by winding lanes (often covered to protect from the heat), mud-brick houses and a couple of blue mosques that are lit up at night.

It is a place to ramble, escape into the library-cum-coffee shop for a few hours and to watch the practice of varzesh-e bastani (“ancient sport”), a form of traditional calisthenics that to a foreign eye looks more like the training regimen of some past Persian army than an actual sport.

ShirazShiraz is Iran’s fifth-biggest city, home to a bustling bazaar with stores selling an endless array of dried spices, fresh and roasted pistachios, dried figs and orange blossom and rose water. Its “Pink Mosque” is best visited in the morning for the reflection of stained-glass windows on the magnificent spread of carpets. 

Just outside Shiraz lies Persepolis, the remains of the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire, founded in about 520BC by Darius I. A large number of bas-reliefs remain intact, at eye level and easily viewed up close – we marvelled at the fingernails of Darius’ subjects, depicted on their way to greet him. Nearby are the four ancient tombs of the Naqsh-e Rustam necropolis.

by Sally Patten

Activists Compare Worldwide Attentions to Notre Dame Fire with Destruction in Syria, Iraq

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Twitter activists highlighted the amount of attentions given to Notre Dame cathedral fire incident in comparison to destruction in Syria and Iraq and even Palestine that were done by terrorist groups and Israeli forces.

Twitter users pointed to the amount of attention payed and solidarities expressed by the nations and their leaders following a fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral, after they offered support for the recovery of the cathedral and compared their lack of action toward a World Heritage site such as Aleppo's Grand Mosque as well as the mosques and churches that were destroyed by terrorist groups and Israeli forces in Syria, Iraq and Palestine.

Built in 717 CE and altered several times, the Great Mosque of Aleppo used to be one of the architectural masterpieces of the Muslim world.

The mosque is located in Aleppo's walled Old City, a Unesco World Heritage site. Heavy fighting between the Syrian army forces and western-backed terrorist groups have ruined the holy site and toppled its minaret.

The medieval Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo was recaptured by the Syrian army troops after witnessing over four years of terrorists' atrocities and taking damage from western-supported war in the country.

Social media users and activists poured to Twitter to express their anger over great deal of attention toward fire at a French cathedral with no serious human casualty compared to the lack of attention by the West toward the lives that were lost in the hands of terrorists in Syria and Iraq who destroyed places of worship while using western-made weapons.

A Lebanese news presenter mentioned the number of Mosques and Churches that were deliberately destroyed by the hands of terrorists who used western-made weapons including France’s without gaining any of world’s attention.

“How many historical mosques and how many churches have they deliberately burned in Iraq and Syria ... and not by accident?” adding, “has any of those who made weapons and set them off our land to destroy our religion, civilization, peace and history, even blinked?

Another Bahraini user wrote “people (are) sad for burned stone and do not care about burned people” referring to people killed in Syria and Iraq that were killed by terrorists.

“They take our time for a small tower fire, have you seen them weeping for minarets that were destroyed in Iraq or the destructions that were left in Sham (Syria) or the treasures they looted,” another user also wrote while posting pictures of destruction in Iraq in comparison to Notre Dame.

Another Arab speaking user wrote in English that he did not find any empathy from the West while the Palestine heritage were being destroyed by Israeli force.

Meymand, a beauty in central Iran from the Stone Age

By: Morteza Rahmani

TEHRAN, (MNA) – At the south-eastern Iranian province of Kerman near Shahr-Babak city, there is a village dating back to the Stone Age. Meymand is a village of troglodytes – cave dwellers.

Meymand has been providing cozy caves and rock shelters for early inhabitants of the Iranian Plateau some 12,000 years ago. The settlement has been continuously inhabited since then, making it one of Iran’s oldest surviving villages.

The village is a UNESCO world heritage site, which won UNESCO’s 2005 Melina Mercouri International Prize. The purpose of the prize is to award outstanding examples of action in safeguarding and enhancing the world’s major cultural landscapes.

Meymand is located some 35 kilometers northeast of Shahr-e Babak, a city in Kerman province on the road that runs between Tehran in the north and the port of Bandar Abbas in the south.

Meymand is, for sure, one of the most spectacular villages of Iran.

Hand-dug houses are carved into a range of hills, beside the natural caves. They have been the residences of the local people since 3,000 years ago, and they are still in use. Compared to Kandovan, another troglodytic village in the country which has been inhabited for 700 years, Meymand is really ancient; it is, in fact, one of the oldest surviving villages as 10,000-year-old stone engravings and 6,000-year-old potteries were discovered.

Some 130 and 150 people are currently dwelling in the village many of whom are semi-nomadic shepherds, living in the village caves during the winter months when the population is at its peak. They move to higher pastures in summer, leaving about 60 people behind.

The villagers have done little to add color to the natural earth tones of the landscape. Their homes and streets have no potted flowers or ornamental plants. The village’s stark appearance is complemented by the spartan life of its inhabitants.

here is a 400 sq meter complex of 15 circular rooms in the village. Bones and personal belongings, discovered in the complex, suggest that the place might have been a crypt or a series of ossuaries.

The area seems to be a place of burial, as skeleton bones and other articles have been found here. The ancient houses in this rural settlement resemble minarets constructed in the breast of this hard stone mountains.

The stone mosque of Meymand is another interesting site in this village. In these minaret shaped dwellings, which are very strong and durable, there are chambers, corridors, and pillars displaying an intriguing architecture.

Rock art can be found in and around Maymand. Three kilometers northeast of Meymand, beside a gravel road that runs towards the Tela valley, lies a hill called Mar Khazineh (Mar in the local dialect means hill). A 350-meter climb down the hill brings us to an ossuary plot filled with the scattered pieces of destroyed ossuaries decorated with rock art. Locals say that these and other ossuaries are from the Zoroastrian-Sassanian era.

There are a total of 406 residential cave units with a total of 2,560 rooms. Some of the cave apartments are five stories high. A large number of the units are deserted.

The dwelling units were made by burrowing into the hillside’s soft sedimentary rock deposited in layers during the Mesozoic age some 100 to 200 million years ago. The concrete-like consistency of Meymand’s sedimentary rock is soft enough to be shaped by manual labor while still being hard enough to support the roofs of the cave units.

Some lower cave dwellings are grouped together. Their entrance trenches meet on a terrace used for family and social gatherings.

There is also an eight-room guest house near the entrance to the village, but visitors can sometimes find lodgings with some of the residents. The guesthouse has felt carpets on the floors, beds carved into the walls, warm lighting, and shared but clean bathrooms with steam showers. A step into the house and one is sucked far into history.

Unforgettable Qavam House in Shiraz

Tehran, Sep 29, IRNA - The breathtaking Qavam House — often referred to as Narenjestan-e Qavam and Qavam Garden — is a multi-century-old Persian Garden and luxurious royal mansion that’s constantly frequented by tourists to Shiraz, southern province of Fars.

According to goingiran.com, located in an elite upper-class neighborhood of Shiraz city, this extraordinary Persian garden and house is one of the most beautiful in Iran. No wonder it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

All right folks. Make sure you have your camera batteries fully charged and memory cards emptied as the Qavam House is no place to come unprepared. For those of you keeping it old school and shooting with film, don’t forget to pack a couple extra rolls.

History

The beautiful Persian garden and house was built during the reign of Nasereddin Shah of the Qajar Dynasty. The project was accomplished upon the order of Ali Mohammad Khan (Qavam-ol-Molk II) and his son, Mohammadreza Khan (Qavam-ol-Molk III).

The precise years of the construction of Qavam House go back to between the years 1879 – 1886. It was designed by Mirza Ibrahim Khan.

Originally, the Qavam family were wealthy merchants from the city of Qazvin. However, they became affiliated to the government during the Zand Dynasty and continued their involvement throughout the Qajar Era, right to the Pahlavi Dynasty.

The house was donated to the University of Shiraz in 1966. It is now an official museum (Narenjestan Museum).
The awe-inspiring Qavam garden, house.

The enormous property encompasses a massive area of 3,500 square meters, while the Qavam House, or better yet mansion, takes 940 of those meters to itself.

All we can say is, just get ready to be ‘wowed’. Entering the Qavam Garden through the main southern entrance, visitors are instantly transported into another dimension. In this new realm, you are about to experience one of the highest levels of beauty you are ever going to see.

The stroll through the lush and extremely tastefully decorated UNESCO garden is a good warm up for what’s in-store at the Qavam House up ahead. Tall symmetrical palm trees, citrus trees and so many flowers that you’ll need a quantum-arithmetic formula to keep count of.

The mesmerizing garden and its refreshing pool lead you through the beautiful landscape towards glorious Persian house.

The entire exterior and interior of the Qavam House is completely adorned in the widest variety of decorations. At the spectacular Qavam House, tourists will be able to find just about every facet of traditional Persian art and architecture. 
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Gorgeous displays of woodwork, mirrorwork, tilework, stained glass, frescoes, bas-relief carving, plasterwork, brickwork, muqarnas, vaulted ceilings, metalwork, calligraphy and stunning Persian paintings of animals and floral motifs.

Yes — this imperial summer abode not only features these techniques, it’s entirely made of them.

Not even one centimeter of this amazing Persian house has been left unblessed by the hands of the masterful Persian craftsmen. Every single room, wall, ceiling, door and window has meticulously detailed!