Western Iran اﯾران ﻏرﺑﯽ
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© Lonely Planet Publications 134 lonelyplanet.com WESTERN IRAN 135 0 200 km Western Iran WESTERN IRAN 0 120 miles To Quba (90km) Ceasefire Line ﺍﻳﺮﺍﻥ ﻏﺮﺑﯽ Kura Iÿdîr YEREVAN Aÿrî NARORNO River Mt Ararat (Aÿrî Daÿî) KARABAGH ARMENIA Khankandi BAKU To Erzurum (5137m) (Stepanakert) (120km) Doÿubayazit AZERBAIJAN A Z E R B A I J A N Gürbulak Sangar NAKHCHIVAN Goris From paddy fields to blizzards to the original Garden of Eden, this region will shatter your Bazargan Pars Maku Nakhchivan Kapan River Abad City Battle Site Agarak preconceptions of Iran. Standing at the frontiers with Mesopotamia and Turkey, western Shot Culfa Aras Eskanlu Chaldoran Qareh Kalisa Kordasht Meghri Khudaferin C A S P I A N Lake Bastam Jolfa Iran has witnessed many of civilisation’s great empires, fortunes oscillating between trading Qareh Qarachilar Tatvan WESTERN IRAN Van Van Ziya'eddin Ushtebin S E A Hadiy Kaleybar glories and military decimation. The deeply hospitable region lacks the iconic gem-city sites Khoy St Shahr Duzal Razi Stephanos Norduz Babak Lankaran To Elazîÿ Hošap Castle of central Iran so it’s often skipped by first-time Western visitors. But that makes it all the Castle Tasuj Marand Meshgin (300km) Salmas Payam Shahr Astara Khah Ahar T U R K E Y Haftevan Sufiyan Ardabil more appealing for those who relish delving a little deeper and being the ‘only tourist’. Mamakan Takhti Tabriz Alvares Astara To Šanlîurfa Mingöl Lake Mt Sabalan Lavandevil Osku (350km) Esendere Sero Orumiyeh (4811m) Sara'eyn Fandoqlu Khotbeh Sara Azar Kandovan Sarab Lisar Hakkari Western Iran is a linguistic and cultural patchwork: Kurds predominate in Kordestan and Shahr Bostanabad Hashtpar Orumiyeh Aziz Mt Sahand Khal Khal Asalem WESTERN IRAN Bridge under Yüksekova Abad (3707m) Kivi Kermanshah provinces; Lors in Ilam and Lorestan; Arabs inhabit southern Khuzestan; Talesh Bandar-e construction Hashtrud Punel Rezvanshahr Golmankhaneh Bonab Maraqeh Mianeh Hashtjin Bandar-e Anzali and Gilaki are the traditional languages of Gilan (the southwest Caspian hinterland); and Azaris Somaeh- Oshnaviyeh Rasht Kiyashahr Astaneh-ye Hasanlu Aqkand Diz Sara Mt Seyah (3578m) Miyando'ab Langarud Ashrafiyeh whose language is more Turkish than Persian, predominate in the rest of the northwest. In the Naqadeh Masuleh Fuman Lahijan Rudsar Piranshahr Fakhrigah Qal'eh Shahin Shikhlar Rudkhan Jawardeh Chaboksar most remote regions, and more generally in Kurdish towns, traditional dress is still worn. Mahabad Dezh Rudbar Ramsar Mosul Dandy Tonekabon Bukan Takht-e Zanjan Gilvar Manjil Abbasabad Soleiman Loshan Chalus The chapter starts by the Turkish border. It loops around Lake Orumiyeh to Tabriz, con- Arbil Karaftu Takab Hir Saqqez Qom Soltaniyeh Razmiyan Yuj Noshahr Sardasht Caves Choqa Qazvin Alamut Kelar- Marz- tinues through the Azari heartlands to Ardabil and down the Caspian coast via Rasht to Sojas dasht anabad Baneh Ghydar Abhar Divandareh Hesar Gachsar Dizin Garmab Takestan Chalus. After Qazvin, Soltaniyeh and Zanjan we consider the central mountains, Kordestan Bijar To Sari See Enlargement Kharaqan Ab Karaj Kirkuk Towers (216km) and the historical cities of Kermanshah and Hamadan before descending the former ‘Royal Marivan Katalekhor Garm Caves Buin TEHRAN I R A Q Sanandaj Gol Ali Sadr Avaj Road’ towards ancient Shush, Shushtar and Choqa Zanbil. Tappeh Caves Hejib Paveh Negel Palangan Kamyaran Qorveh Bahar To Sonqor Lalejin Saveh Mashhad Javanrud (910km) Qasr-e- Taq-e Hamadan HIGHLIGHTS Shirin Ravansar Bostan Asadabad Komijan Khosravi Sar-e-Pol-e Zahab Sahneh Tuyserkan ὄ Kangavar Qom Lake Jouker Hike between flower-filled valleys and snowcapped peaks amid the ruined 12th-century Kerend Eslam Bisotun Nushijan Namak Abad Harsin Malayer Saruq Gilan-e Kermanshah Castles of the Assassins ( p182 ) Nahavand Garb Nurabad Arak Delijan Challenge Iran’s desert image in the paddy fields Borujerd Kashan Alashtar and forests of Gilan that lead to the delightful Ilam Kuhdasht Jolfa Khorramabad Dorud Aras River Valley To Amman BAGHDAD Lumar Khomein stepped village of Masuleh ( p171 ) (Jordan, 680km); Azna Babak Castle Bisheh Aligudarz To Yazd Aleppo (Syria, 700km) Darb-e- Golpayegan Mehran Sepid Dasht Astaneh (327km)ὄ From Jolfa ( p156 ) explore ancient churches, mud- Khonsar Kandovan Tigris Mt Oshturan walled castles and grand canyons along the biblical Masuleh (4070m) Karbala Talezang Z Daran Aras River Valley ( p157 ) River Dehloran ar Takht-e dko s Soleiman Castles of the Dez Dam uh Mountain Assassins Al Kut Andimeshk Esfahan Stagger up to Babak Castle ( p159 ), the dramatic Dezful Chelgerd To Yazd Howraman Bin Jafar Shahr-e Kord emotional heart of Azarbayjan Shush (280km) 0 20 km Farsan Shushtar 0 12 miles Haft Masjed-i Venture into Howraman ( p194 ), a magical, rarely Tappeh Ardal Marivan Soleiman Qomsheh Zarivar Izeh visited valley of traditional Kurdish villages Lake Choqa Karun Dehdej Borujen Zanbil Susangerd Baghmalek To Shiraz Be awed by lonely Choqa Zanbil’s ( p215 ) massive, Euphrates River (367km) Dezli Biyakara Ahvaz brick ziggurat which somehow managed to get Ramhormoz Semirom River Sh ver ‘lost’ for 2500 years Choqa Zanbil (A a Ri Kurmai tt r al Landeh v un Howraman-at a - r nd A Cross sparsely populated mountainscapes from Zan- Takht r Shadegan Dehdasht Kamala -r ab Ka Yasuj jan to reach the ruins of Takht-e Soleiman ( p187 ), Al-Basra ud) Selin Belbär Khorramshahr Bandar-e Behbahan history’s foremost Zoroastrian temple complex Halabja Nodesheh Nvin Abadan Imam Khomeini Dogonbadan Nosud Fars Hajij Potter about between the fairy-chimney homes of Ura Nur Abad Kandovan ( p155 ), Iran’s mini-Cappadocia Paveh To Kuwait PERSIAN GULF To Shiraz (123km); City (80km) Bushehr (161km) © Lonely Planet Publications 134 lonelyplanet.com WESTERN IRAN 135 0 200 km Western Iran WESTERN IRAN 0 120 miles To Quba (90km) Ceasefire Line ﺍﻳﺮﺍﻥ ﻏﺮﺑﯽ Kura Iÿdîr YEREVAN Aÿrî NARORNO River Mt Ararat (Aÿrî Daÿî) KARABAGH ARMENIA Khankandi BAKU To Erzurum (5137m) (Stepanakert) (120km) Doÿubayazit AZERBAIJAN A Z E R B A I J A N Gürbulak Sangar NAKHCHIVAN Goris From paddy fields to blizzards to the original Garden of Eden, this region will shatter your Bazargan Pars Maku Nakhchivan Kapan River Abad City Battle Site Agarak preconceptions of Iran. Standing at the frontiers with Mesopotamia and Turkey, western Shot Culfa Aras Eskanlu Chaldoran Qareh Kalisa Kordasht Meghri Khudaferin C A S P I A N Lake Bastam Jolfa Iran has witnessed many of civilisation’s great empires, fortunes oscillating between trading Qareh Qarachilar Tatvan WESTERN IRAN Van Van Ziya'eddin Ushtebin S E A Hadiy Kaleybar glories and military decimation. The deeply hospitable region lacks the iconic gem-city sites Khoy St Shahr Duzal Razi Stephanos Norduz Babak Lankaran To Elazîÿ Hošap Castle of central Iran so it’s often skipped by first-time Western visitors. But that makes it all the Castle Tasuj Marand Meshgin (300km) Salmas Payam Shahr Astara Khah Ahar T U R K E Y Haftevan Sufiyan Ardabil more appealing for those who relish delving a little deeper and being the ‘only tourist’. Mamakan Takhti Tabriz Alvares Astara To Šanlîurfa Mingöl Lake Mt Sabalan Lavandevil Osku (350km) Esendere Sero Orumiyeh (4811m) Sara'eyn Fandoqlu Khotbeh Sara Azar Kandovan Sarab Lisar Hakkari Western Iran is a linguistic and cultural patchwork: Kurds predominate in Kordestan and Shahr Bostanabad Hashtpar Orumiyeh Aziz Mt Sahand Khal Khal Asalem WESTERN IRAN Bridge under Yüksekova Abad (3707m) Kivi Kermanshah provinces; Lors in Ilam and Lorestan; Arabs inhabit southern Khuzestan; Talesh Bandar-e construction Hashtrud Punel Rezvanshahr Golmankhaneh Bonab Maraqeh Mianeh Hashtjin Bandar-e Anzali and Gilaki are the traditional languages of Gilan (the southwest Caspian hinterland); and Azaris Somaeh- Oshnaviyeh Rasht Kiyashahr Astaneh-ye Hasanlu Aqkand Diz Sara Mt Seyah (3578m) Miyando'ab Langarud Ashrafiyeh whose language is more Turkish than Persian, predominate in the rest of the northwest. In the Naqadeh Masuleh Fuman Lahijan Rudsar Piranshahr Fakhrigah Qal'eh Shahin Shikhlar Rudkhan Jawardeh Chaboksar most remote regions, and more generally in Kurdish towns, traditional dress is still worn. Mahabad Dezh Rudbar Ramsar Mosul Dandy Tonekabon Bukan Takht-e Zanjan Gilvar Manjil Abbasabad Soleiman Loshan Chalus The chapter starts by the Turkish border. It loops around Lake Orumiyeh to Tabriz, con- Arbil Karaftu Takab Hir Saqqez Qom Soltaniyeh Razmiyan Yuj Noshahr Sardasht Caves Choqa Qazvin Alamut Kelar- Marz- tinues through the Azari heartlands to Ardabil and down the Caspian coast via Rasht to Sojas dasht anabad Baneh Ghydar Abhar Divandareh Hesar Gachsar Dizin Garmab Takestan Chalus. After Qazvin, Soltaniyeh and Zanjan we consider the central mountains, Kordestan Bijar To Sari See Enlargement Kharaqan Ab Karaj Kirkuk Towers (216km) and the historical cities of Kermanshah and Hamadan before descending the former ‘Royal Marivan Katalekhor Garm Caves Buin TEHRAN I R A Q Sanandaj Gol Ali Sadr Avaj Road’ towards ancient Shush, Shushtar and Choqa Zanbil. Tappeh Caves Hejib Paveh Negel Palangan Kamyaran Qorveh Bahar To Sonqor Lalejin Saveh Mashhad Javanrud (910km) Qasr-e- Taq-e Hamadan HIGHLIGHTS Shirin Ravansar Bostan Asadabad Komijan Khosravi Sar-e-Pol-e Zahab Sahneh Tuyserkan ὄ Kangavar Qom Lake Jouker Hike between flower-filled valleys and snowcapped peaks amid the ruined 12th-century Kerend Eslam Bisotun Nushijan Namak Abad Harsin Malayer Saruq Gilan-e Kermanshah Castles of the Assassins ( p182 ) Nahavand Garb Nurabad Arak Delijan Challenge Iran’s desert