© Lonely Planet Publications 221 Central ﺍﻳﺮﺍﻥ ﻣﺮﮐﺰی

Ever since Cyrus the Great’s dramatic rise from provincial overlord to ruler of the largest empire on earth, central Iran has been something of a showcase for the region’s great- est civilisations. The unrelenting splendour and majesty of Esfahan, the refined elegance of and the mud-brick antiquity of , and Kharanaq are a fascinating contrast, representing the fusion over 2500 years of myriad cultures and starkly differ- ent terrains. Then, of course, there’s that monumental expression of artistic harmony commissioned by Darius I – .

With so much on offer, it’s no surprise that the towns of Iran’s central provinces are where you’ll probably spend the most time. But it’s not just about ticking off the popular sights, because central Iran has many an unsung gem. , with its splendid , gardens and magnificently restored traditional houses, is one. If you want to get off the beaten track there’s the desert oasis of Garmeh, the cave village of of Garmeh, stops such as

Zein-o-din and Toudeshk, or the chance to camp with nomads in the . CENTRAL IRAN

Central Iran’s people are as diverse as the places they live. In they’re conservative and religious, Shirazis are laid-back and fun-loving, and the Qashqa’i and Bakhtiari nomads live a lifestyle dictated by nature. Often you will experience the region’s cultural richness and physical beauty in combination: sitting in the garden of ’s tomb discussing the ways of the world with a Shirazi medical student, perhaps; watching a nomad woman make yogurt by hand; or drinking tea with a carpet salesman in Esfahan’s Imam Sq. Whatever it is you happen upon, central Iran is a place you’ll remember for a long time.

HIGHLIGHTS

„ Watch the sun set over Esfahan’s many- splendoured Imam Square ( p238 ) from the rooftop Qeysarieh Tea Shop ( p249 ) „ Sit on the hill behind the sublime Persepolis (p279 ), just soaking it all up

„ Haggle over a carpet or kilim in the vaulted Garmeh arcades of Esfahan’s Bazar-e Bozorg ( p238 ) or Imam Square ( p238 ) Esfahan

„ Lose yourself in the historic laneways of Yazd Yazd ( p255 ), and find yourself in a traditional Caravanserai Zein-o-din hotel „ Treat yourself to a dose of Safavid-era luxury in the wonderfully restored Caravanserai Persepolis Zein-o-din ( p267 ) „ Experience a real desert oasis at simple, silent Garmeh ( p254 ) CENTRAL IRAN Astane Square, behindtheshrine. The best placetositandwatch all this isat particularly around theHazrat-e Masumeh. should bediscreet anddress conservatively, manteau andmade-upface. Still,travellers some change, and theoddfigure-hugging chador.head-to-toe Qom isseeing But even and everywhere youlookwomenwearthe dents mixwithasteady flowof pilgrims, in itscontrasts. andreligious stu- to studyinthemadrasehs. and studentscomefromacrosstheworld cities,where Shiite scholarsconservative remains one of Iran’smostreligious and wasexiledin1964.TodayitKhomeini shah’s regime sincewellbefore Ayatollah from where clericshadrailedagainstthe 1979 revolution canbecredited toQom, country since1980.Thegenesis of the the hardlineclericswhohave ruledthe nificent Hazrat-e Masumeh shrineand Qom (Ghom)ishometoboththemag- cityafter ,Iran’s second-holiest x QOM 222 Saruq CENTRAL IRAN The ‘peoplescape’of Qomisabsorbing Markazi Arak 0251 / pop 1,070,000 / elev 931m 0251 /pop1,070,000elev Persian Khuzestan CENTRALIRAN••Qom Gulf Fereidun Shahr Island Khark Bandar-e Chelgerd Gonave Bakhteyari Chahar Mahalva va Kohgiluyeh Shahr-e Kord Boyerahmad Mahallat Behbahan ὄὄ ὄὄ Bushehr Farsan Bushehr Lordegan Khomein Khonsar Daran Dogombadan Dehdasht Mashhad-e Ardehal Najaf Abad Niasar Ardal Yasuj Abad Nur Qom Abyaneh Borazjan Esfahan () Ahram Sepidan Pataveh Borujen Shahr Zarrin Aran Karim Khan Mt Karkas Kashan (3899m) ὄὄ ὄὄ Naqsh-e Rostam Khorasgan Namak Lake Naqsh-e Rajab

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4 1 3 2 5 Imam Khomeini Blvd Khomeini Imam QOM Station To Kashan(100km); expressway (245km) Esfahan by (125km); (133km) Train To Arak secondary roads CENTRALIRAN••Qom To Esfahanby (265km) Hojatyyeh ὇὇὇ ὇὇὇ ὇὇὇ ὇὇὇ Bridge

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Kashani St; Kashani lonelyplanet.com Telephone office Coffeenet Sepanta Agency Safar DoostanTravel Police Hospital Milad CityCafenet Central Bank Tejarat h Exchange Amir Kabir Information at Valiasr Sq. of thecentre stopinstead butmostbuses terminal is located about2.5kmnortheast ortake abus.Thebus atake ataxi will need known asFinRdandAmirKabir Rd), you west mainroadtoFinGardens(variously foot. Forsites alongthenortheast–south- from where mostsites canbereached on The centre of townisKamal-ol-Molk Sq, Orientation ofthe unexpected yourtrip. highlights skipping Kashan beoneof –itjustmight avery for but you’llstillneed goodexcuse ited andthepopulacevery conservative, sity of Esfahan. bustle of Tehran inten- andthesightseeing as theperfect counterfoil tothefrantic chantingly lethargic atmosphere thatserves bazaar isdeceptively lar have becomesynonymouswiththecity.The meticulouslyrestoredseveral mansionsthat Thu, 10am-1pm Fri) International callsattheusual rates. Thu, 10am-1pm Fri) a green-tiled building. It’sunsigned,downstairs in popular withyoungKashanis. IR10,000; slowly. St; perhrIR10,000; Accommodation options might belim- Accommodation optionsmight genius, sooncapitulated. whocouldnever haveing tothetalepoorKashanis, expected anattackofsuchdiabolical thecitybyhavingthemthrownoverArmed withthesestingers,heattacked thewalls. Accord- ordered hismentogather(somehow?)thousandsofscorpionsfromthesurroundingdeserts. invasion ofthe7thcenturyAD.WhenArabgeneralfoundcity’swallsimpregnable, he roastrian priests),hencethe‘AdorationofMagi’. NearbySaveh alsoclaimsthethree. to thenewbornChrist,anevent possiblegiven thatisdistinctly the‘WiseMen’were magis (Zo- history. OnestoryhastheBible’s‘Three topaytheirrespects WiseMen’settingoutfromKashan While there before isnowritten theSeljukperiod,there historyofKashan oral isanentertaining A STINGINTHETAIL 8am-2pm Sat-Thu) hoursbutnopaperwork. Short Another legendtells ofAbuMusaal-Ashari’s novel thecityduringArab methodoftaking ( x h h 110) 2-9pm Sat-Thu) (Ayatollah Kashani St) Changes money… Changes St) Kashani (Ayatollah 8.30am-8pm Sat-Thu) (Dr BeheshtiSt)Tryhere first. h (Abazar St; (Ayatollah Kashani St;perhr Kashani (Ayatollah 8am-10pm) (Shahid Mohammad Ali-ye-Raja’i MohammadAli-ye-Raja’i (Shahid ( x

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incline opposite Ameriha. theKhan-e Kashan. badgirs, yard andthedistinctive six-sided,domed climb totheroof forviewsover thecourt- ontheceiling. a carpetdesigniscarved time. Inoneof thesmalleradjoiningrooms, ol-Molk, theforemost Iranianartistof the mirror workandfrescoes painted byKamal intricate mouldings,fineglassand stalactite splendid motifsabove the reception hall sumptuouslydecorated with pool.Atitsfarendisatwo-storeyfountain rated courtyard,laidoutaroundacentral isanornately deco- public. Whatyousee today onlythe sections, an sections, h St; admissionIR3000; ticos and reception halls are decorated as por-an open courtyard ontop. Thehigh ing larger as theystep up,culminatingin of spacebybecom- to enhancethesense ally, thenumerous courtyardsare designed buildings spread over Unusu- levels. several the Famous foritsground-breaking design, Khan-e Abbasian years later –wasthe as hisown.Theresult –finishedsome18 be abletolive inahomeatleastaslovely onecondition:hisdaughter must bei set handinmarriage,daughter’s Agha Tabata- Sayyed Jafar Tabatabei his todiscusstaking amerchant knownasBorujerdi,met tanzi, hasitthatwhenSayyedJafarLegend Na- Khan-e Borujerdi down. closed has been but themore alluringcourtyardteahouse locallymadesilks, a handicraftshopselling andtheentranceisonleft.Thereright is MirAhmad,turn the Imamzadeh-yeSultan Borujerdi towardstheblueconicaltowerof to bathesomeroomsinbrilliantcolour. glasscombine andstained month), sunlight From mid-afternoon (dependingonthe the largest of pool. which boastsafountain ters). Theyare aroundfourcourtyards, set guests; andthe Follow thesignsfromAlavi Stupasmall beallowedto If youasknicelymight The homeoriginallyconsisted of two To get here, walksouthpasttheKhan-e 8am-sunset) Khan-e Abbasian Khan-e which have becomethesymbolof is abewilderingcomplexof six CENTRAL IRAN •• Kashan CENTRAL IRAN••Kashan andaruni h khadameh andaruni 8am-sunset) (off AlaviSt;admissionIR3000; Khan-e Borujerdi Khan-e anda (servants’ quar- (servants’ is opentothe ﻫﺎ .

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Rd; its fine,slender dome. renovated for since. The shrine isnotable heavily ithasbeen Mongol periods, though or ond Muslimcaliph. Itdates totheSeljuk of tobetheassassin lieved Omar,thesec- f rn (p104). Iran of shah’s tomb,are intheNationalMuseum lustre mihrabandacarpetwoven forthe uglier concrete monstrosity. clearedbeen awayandreplaced byabigger, fromtheoriginaltombhas else everything is neartheshrine’sentrance,butalmost king’s low,blackporphyrytombstone revered Habib thesaint The Ibn-eMusa. Abbas tobeburiedhere chose he because Seljuk-era Seljuk-era onwhatwasonceafine struction wrought turning inhis de- grave atthesenseless The revered Shah Abbas wellbe Imight IMAMZADEH-E HABIB IBN-EMUSA there are verses intheQuran. tohavefront doorissaid asmanystuds much of theconstruction.Thewooden outagainstthemud-brick for stand used designs. Quranicinscriptionsandmosaics adorned withcoloured tilesingeometric posing domeisflanked bytwominarets direction of ) attheback.Theim- andmihrab (niche fine portal indicatingthe lofty courtyard, anaustere domeandunusual ing fourstoreys beginninginalarge sunken famous foritsprecise architecture, includ- Kashan, the the leftof theroadasyoucome from Off Imamzadeh-ye AbuLolou orhireenough, ataxi. iseasy buses jumpingonandoff Otherwise, atFin. to walk,it’salldownhillifyoustart on theroadtoFinGarden.Ifyoudecide There worth aquicklook are sights several ALONG THEFINROAD not opentowomen. Shah which amadraseh, is andnowhouses rent structure wasbuiltin1808byFath Ali is theSeljuk-era Lost inthemidstof thelabyrinthine bazaar SOLTANIYEH MOSQUE Two of the highlights, amagnificentTwo of thehighlights, h badgirs 9am-4pm) shrine shrine above theentrance. Italsohasa Imamzadeh-ye AbuLolou istheshrinetomanbe- Soltaniyeh Mosque (off Imam Khomeini St) (off ImamKhomeini ﻣﻮﺳﯽ

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north sideof theroad. Fin –that’s4.5kmfromeitheronthe shown around,atipisappreciated. in Paris. There’s nocharge, butifyouare of IraninTehran ( p104 ) andtheLouvre includingtheNationalMuseum museums, facilities. Mostfindshave moved been to while visitors are welcomed,there are few predates of those theMesopotamians. temple), andsomeIraniansare claimingthis (steppeddust isclearlyaziggurat pyramidal structure –whatisemerging itself fromthe More nium BC. They date fromasearlythe4th implements madefromstone,clayandbone. toolsanddomestic pottery pieces,metal clearly visiblefromthemainroadtoFin. it onposters longbefore youarrive. It’s this area and chances are you’llhave seen yard. Theconical,tiledroof isdistinctive to minaretsourful tiles,tall andapretty court- boasts European-stylepainted ceilings,col- Rd; The delightful Ibrahim Shahzadeh-ye ( Fin Designed forShah Abbas I, Bagh-e Tarikhi-ye Fin () set) Rd; Mound;offAmirKabir (Sialk, Seyalk cal sites incentralIran,the One of theoldestandrichest archaeologi- Tappeh-ye Seyalk (Sialk) and walls. Nearby is a delightful and walls.Nearby isadelightful the Qajars, withornately painted ceilings rear is theShotorgalu-ye Qajari, builtby ye Safavi road in trees,and tall before continuingondownthe watering thegarden’sorchards and fountains, pools several mercury, ischannelledthrough the water, of levels which hasunusuallyhigh poolbehindthegarden.Fromhere tagonal flows intothegardenvia in Iran.It’sfamousforitsspringwater, which and isrenowned asoneof thefinestgardens sunset) tea andkababs. tea Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book h Seyalk is halfway between Kashan ishalfwaybetween and Seyalk workingdigand, It isstilla(seasonal) At thecentre of thegardenis

hasgiven upaplethoraof interesting h (Fin Garden; Amir Kabir Rd;admissionIR5000; (Fin AmirKabir Garden; 8am-4pm, to 6pmsummer) isaclassicalPersian visionof paradise 9am-4pm) jubs , Abbas’ two-storey pavilion. Atthe (canals,pronounced‘joobs’). shrinewasbuiltin1894and Shahzadeh-ye Ibrahim Shahzadeh-ye significant, perhaps, is the perhaps,isthe significant, , which sells cheap, which sells Tappeh-ye Seyalk Bagh-e Tarikhi-ye Tarikhi-ye Bagh-e Lasegah ﺍﺑﺮﺍﻫﻴﻢ ﻓﻴﻦ h Shotorgalu-

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Kashan. IR10,000) orminibus(IR500)fromcentral taxi (IR2000), taxi (IR2000),taxi taxi Amir Kabir St.Youcanget here byshuttle southwest of centralKashan attheendof heslashedhisownwrists. somesay though murderedand eventually inthebathhouse, Amir Kabir wasimprisonedinFinGarden tually persuaded hersonthathehadtogo. the royalcourtandshah’smothereven- tion. Buthispopularityproved unpopularin in thefieldsof educationandadministra- who instituted significantchange, especially Din Shah from1848.He wasamoderniser asprimeminister underNasirod- served Mirza Taqi knownasAmirKabir, Khan, nationalist heroAmirKabir wasmurdered. cally significantastheplacewhere Iranian it’s cheap. be cleanerandnoEnglish isspoken, but rock-hard beds.Theshare bathroomscould saferkhaneh IR100,000/150,000) St; s/dIR40,000/80,000) educated Iranians. Roomscomein avariety herestaying isagreat young, waytomeet and andamuseum, westayed) the night There isasmallperformance space(poetry inthehouse. promotes thearts,andisbased from theroomstohelpfundhisNGO, which money friendly MrSater, whoaimstouse is runby it wasworththewait.Thehouse last Kashan hasitsfirst traditionalhotel, and Dolat Sq)neartheentrancetobazaar. Sq(Darvaze be foundaroundMotahhari opened in2007.Thecheapest placescan with thecity’sfirst traditionalhotel having There forhope, somecause is,however, ingly lowandvalueformoneyispoor. petition thattheoverall isshock- standard Kashan hassofew hotels andsolittlecom- Sleeping looking downonthebazaar. rooms have vaulted ceilingsandwindows cally hardbedsandshared bathrooms.Some popular withbackpackers, despite thetypi- small, primitive, butclean,roomskeep it speak much English,butthelocationand 2561; www.kajweb.com; offFazel-e Navaji St; 2561; www.kajweb.com; o The gardensare inthevillage of Fin,9km But itisthe Golestan Inn Mosaferkhaneh-ye Gochariyan Mosaferkhaneh-ye Khan-e Ehsan Khan-e has small, Spartan rooms with roomswith has small,Spartan CENTRAL IRAN •• Kashan CENTRAL IRAN••Kashan bathhouse The friendlyowners don’t ( x ( Thisbare-bones x 444 6793; Motahhari Sq;s/d 444 6793;Motahhari dar baste /fax 4446833,0913276 thatismosthistori-

( x (closed door; (closed 444 5495; Abazar 444 5495;Abazar i )

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mo- 229 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN IR40,000; Kabir Rd;s/twUS$35/53; Kabir and thewholeexperienceisquite social. theeatingarearunning soothinglythrough Mosthaveespecially intheevenings. water eat andare hugely popularwithKashanis, before FinGardenare thebestplacesto thesizeofcriticised theserves. gets mixed reviews butnoneof themhas Iranianfare name,thestandard same here Alsosee US$100 anight. p227 . traditional hotel. topaymore Expect than be openasalavishly furnishedanddecorated parts of will thiswondroustraditional house something goodopens,doletusknow. reasons) mealinKashan canbeatrial.If findinga closed, memorable (fortheright With themuch-loved Delpazirrecently RESTAURANTS Eating All up, the street leadingtoAgha Bozorg Mosque. It’s easytomiss,downasmalllaneopposite for adormbedand€20to€35room. butexpecttopayabout €7to€10 to beset, were thevery first guestsandpriceshadyet earthen ceilings,others more modern.We of shapesandsizes,somewithraw,arched 230 qalyan (water pipe). dishes, all washeddownwith of deliciouskababs andsomeless meaty varieties restaurants, several Jawed serves Prices includebreakfast. interested, dependingonwhoisworking. varies fromfriendlyandengagingtodis- which have fineviewsof theoldcity.Service small, green, uninspiringrooms,someof cost IR10,000. will town runpastthefrontdoor,orataxi discounts are to usuallypossible. Minibuses rooms are stilltired andoverpriced, though then theyshouldbeaskingforarefund. The to have hadamakeover butifthat’strue Gardens, theoverly large AmirKabir claims & 6-11pm) Amir Kabir Rd;mealsIR35,000-60,000; Amir Kabir pai Abazar St;s/twUS$27/33,rwithoutshowerUS$20/27; Sayyah Hotel Hotel Sayyah Jawed Traditional Restaurant Jawed TraditionalRestaurant The gardenrestaurants liningtheroad Sayyah Restaurant Restaurant Sayyah Amir Kabir Hotel Amir Kabir Khan-e Ameriha Khan-e CENTRALIRAN••Kashan kheyli khub h Arguably the bestof thegarden ) Sayyahiswelllocated andhas 7am-9pm) ( x

(Alavi St;

( x pa Underthehotel of the 444 4535; www.sayyahhotel.com; 444 4535;www.sayyahhotel.com; (very good)! ( x 530 4091-95; fax 530 4090; Amir 530 4091-95;fax4090;Amir a 444 4535;AbazarSt;meals ) Way out near Fin Fin Wayoutnear ) When completed, Whencompleted, chay h ( x 11.30am-3pm (tea) and 533 7123; for itsrichly flavoured under thecavernous famous domeisrightly biscuits anddates, which costextra. you onlywanttea, nottheaccompanying sure tospecifyif odd Iraniantourist).Be tic-covered cushionsand…locals(plusthe discoball,plas- birds,neonlights, tweeting genuinely localteahouse,complete with for thesign),this isnowa old bathhouse Down afew stairs fromthebazaar(look are to supposed stop atthe Kashan are goingtoorfromTehran. They As thatpassthrough withQom,mostbuses BUS, MINIBUS&SAVARI &Away There Getting Khan Hammam-e TEAHOUSES &CAFÉS longer-term drivers, Tours ( see p225 ). within town shouldcostabout IR6000.For Fin and between Sq,orataxi 15 Khordad Taxis, runregularly andbuses shuttle taxis Around Getting is about2kmnorthof thecitycentre. Kerman after 7am. Kashanpasses atabout9pmandarrives in 711km), viaYazd (sixhours, 475km),which toKerman (10hours,nonluxury service (fourhours,to Esfahan 270km),andadaily dle of There thenight. are alsodailytrains 217km), buttheygenerally passinthemid- Kashan andTehran (IR16,500,3½hours, There are atleastthree trainsadaybetween TRAIN Dowleh, intheBazaar; Tehran here. hour.every alsofindsavaris to Youmight New Age inthemiddle)about ziggurat asr Sq(Madkhal Sq;it’stheonewith leave fromthesouthwestern cornerof Vali- less frequently forabout halftheprice. (normal, usuallyoldMercedes) leave buses Qom (IR10,000,onehour),and hours) andTehran (IR25,000,3½hours) via toEsfahan(IR21,000,four Volvo services tickets.south cornersells There are regular Sq,wherefrom Montazeri onthe anoffice Sadra Blvd) something first). and tea, andyoucangoontotheroof (buy hyhnh aaa Sara Caravan Chaykhaneh The Minibuses toQom(IR7000,twohours) Minibuses train station north of thecitybutoften willleave

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( 445 2572;Bazaar; x 8am-8pm) dizi 446 0010;MollaSodraBlvd) (soup-stew meal) bus terminal (Timche-ye Aminal (Timche-ye Thistinyplace lonelyplanet.com h mahmooly 8am-9pm)

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and thecracked white surfaceof thelake. (where there isalsoarestored caravanserai) dunesnear daytripstosand desert the Dasht-eKavir. GuidesinKashan offer east of Mashhad atthewestern edge of washing ceremony (see below ). only really worththetripforcarpet- Fifth Imam,whowasmurdered here. It’s AliibnMohammad, thesonofSultan the building program’.Shame. Thetombisfor described asa‘megalomaniacreligious the handsof whatonereader accurately tomb that hassuffered badlyat Seljuk-era e Ardehal fields, which bloomduringlate spring. temple, waterfall theNiasar andfamousrose unique, Parthian-era cave builtasaMithraist fire Sassanian-era temple, apreserved includeawell- Thesights setting. mountain savari 1710m above isaneasy35km level) sea if youwanttoget thetrack, off though inthefollowingsections, detailed from Kashan. Themostinteresting are villages canbevisited ondaytrips Several AROUND KASHAN lonelyplanet.com bae of amazeof mudandstonewindthrough kas situatedcities. Serenely atthefoot of antidote to Iran’sbustling,traffic-clogged The ancientvillage of Abyaneh istheperfect 2235m elev x Abyaneh Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book Namak Lake About 50kmwestof Kashan, of themurderers, andthenwash itinalocalspring. and asfarawayYazd, carry asymboliccarpetfromthecrypt,beat ittosymbolisetheirhatred They alsowashedthe carpet. Fin placedthe Sultan’sbodyonacarpet,washeditinaccordancewithtraditionandburied it. away tobegin prayingoncarpets. They were murdered as they prayed.Later, followersfrom ofthem.Itwastoomuchfor theSultan,wholedhismen plotters womenahead sent40naked was abletoholdoutfor10days. Legend hasitthatwasonlyconcludedafter thedesperate arriving from Fin butwithsupport Hewasattacked, him becausehehadbecometoopowerful. in Fin (duringsummer) forseveral years,jealousofficialsplotted andArdahal toassassinate Fifth Imam,whohadsettled inFin tobringShiaIslamthepeople. After (nearKashan) living The ceremony commemorates theassassinationofSultanAliibnMohammad,son ing religious festival), the unlessthereOn thesecondFridayofIranianmonthMehr(usuallyearlyOctober, isaclash- THE CARPET-WASHING CEREMONYOFARDEHAL 0362 /pop–afewoldladiesmostofthetime (3899m), Abyaneh’s twistinglanes steep, On the anniversary of his murder, thousands of locals, joined by visitors from Kashan, QomOn theanniversary ofhismurder,thousands locals,joinedbyvisitorsfromKashan,

or minibustripawayinapicturesque ishometoaonce-magnificent (Salt Lake) isabout (SaltLake) 60km qali shuran Niasar Mashhad- Maranjab (carpet-washing ceremony) isheldat Mashhad-e Ardehal. Mt Kar- ﺍﺑﻴﺎﻧﻪ (at (at

Located onahillabove Abyaneh, this Abyaneh Hotel SLEEPING &EATING Jameh) (Masjed-e building isthe11th-century pool andviews.Probably themostbeautiful roof, andthe Yahya I mamzadeh-ye dering, butdolookforthe14th-century apples (theytake noprisoners). toothless oldwomenover thepriceof dried withcolourfullyclad, and touristshaggling residents returning fromwinter inTehran cool andAbyaneh ismostlively, filledwith it’srefreshinglying! Insummer,however, winter you’ll understand why–it’sfreez- gales inwinter. Andifyoucomehere in ofceives theeffects andminimise howling thesunitre-built thiswaytomaximise faces eastacross apicturesque valley.Itwas disappeared centuriesago. an earlierincarnationof Farsi thatlargely the elderlyresidents speakMiddlePersian, to boththeage andisolationof Abyaneh that and fragilewoodenbalconies.It’stestament red mud-brick withlatticewindows houses tr withbreakfast IR330,000/550,000/690,000; village are spectacular. views (andphotos)of thevalleyand wallsofto thehigh a winter and upstairs insummer. mainly two-storey; peoplelive downstairs in Abyaneh’s are houses and ancientcarvings. Abyaneh isbestappreciated byjustwan- The village isatleast1500years oldand It’s funtocrosstheriver andclimbup CENTRAL IRAN •• Around Kashan CENTRAL IRAN••AroundKashan , withitswalnut-woodmihrab ( Zeyaratgah shrine Zeyaratgah x 436 2223-25;fax2226;s/tw/ withitsconical,blue-tiled castle , fromwhere the withitstiny Jameh Mosque pa 231

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CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN sunset) aaz Jameh Mosque kilometresis several away.Themagnificent ground uraniumenrichment plant,which attractions –neitherof which isanunder- lower slopesof MtKarkas, hastwomain The old,well-treed village of onthe Natanz, x Natanz three hours inAbyaneh. about IR150,000forthetripplustwoor recommended driver-guides; theycharge of it. near here; nuclearfacilityising 22km.TheNatanz from whatever ispassingfortheremain- attheturn-off.you off Thenwaitforalift andtelltowards Natanz thedriver tolet Alternatively, take aminibusfromKashan afternoon, oryoucouldtryhitching back. bus usuallyreturns toKashan intheearly or twiceaday,dependingondemand.The rectly Abyaneh between andKashan once easy toreach. (IR6500)rundi- Minibuses Abyaneh is82kmfromKashan andnot THERE&AWAYGETTING Persian dishes(IR35,000toIR70,000). alongmenuof generous to 10pm)serves restaurant (opennoonto4pmand8pm negotiation iseminentlypossible. Thehuge but given howtheplaceisoften empty, who runsitare are friendly.Rates high, some have panoramicviews,andthefamily ble. Roomsare modern,well-equippedand and thefinishedproductisvery comforta- intown.It’staken yearstaurant tocomplete multi-storey placeistheonlyhotel andres- 232 ask ‘ north again atthetree-lined avenue; orjust north, turneast at theroundabout,then hill) fromwhere usually stop;walk thebuses door. It’sagood2kmwalk(mainlydown- wooden the mosquehasanintricately carved being over the top.Thenearbyentranceto symmetrical without phy thatissatisfyingly black-and-white tiledcalligra- turquoise, exquisitewith is atall, portal The highlight of buildings. allIlkhanid-era preserved tury, whilethemosqueisoneof thebest- renowned localSufimysticof the11thcen- Islamic complex.Thetombbelongstoa early side byinwhatwasanimportant Most people just hire a taxi. See Most peoplejusthire See ataxi. p225 for 0362 / pop 12,000 / elev 1655m 0362 /pop12,000elev CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan koja imamzadeh? and do not Imamzadeh-ye Abdal-Samad

(Masjed-e Jameh; (Masjed-e get caught taking photos get taking caught ’. h 8am-noon &2pm- stand stand ﻧﻄﻨﺰ side theSaraban. –waitout- Natanz one hour)passthrough (IR11,000, twohours) andKashan (IR6000, bright roomsandawelcomingowner.bright Mosque, isamodestlittleplacewithclean, a smallsquare about300mfromtheJameh than asmall-townmortuary. finished. itis ever railway should help–ifindeed pollution; thelong-awaited underground jamsandair facility. SoEsfahan hastraffic nucleartry, includinga much-discussed skirts are hometoplentyof heavy indus- ofcapital Esfahanprovince, andthe out- This isthecountry’sthird-largest cityand refreshing elementstothecityof Esfahan. a UnescoWorldHeritage site. mon refreshment of humanity’.Todayitis like AthensorRome,which are thecom- ranked rarer ‘Isfahanamongthose places, more geographically specificwhenhe half theworld).RobertByronwasslightly jahan’(Esfahanis rhyme ‘Esfahannesf-e to agree withthefamous16th-centuryhalf- Sotun Palace. lah Mosque,AliQapuPalace andChehel Sq –theImamMosque,Sheikh Lotfol- culture inandaroundImam most evident refinementssavouring thehigh of Persian Esfahanisaplacefor though, thing else, More teahouses. thanany- the marvellous and drinkingtea andchatting to localsin in thebazaar,dozingbeautifulgardens, spare. Itisacityfor walking,getting lost demand asmuch of yourtimeasyoucan expansive bazaaranditsgorgeous tilesofsaic Esfahan’s Islamic buildings,its the Islamicworld.Theexquisite bluemo- ancient Persia andoneof thefinestcitiesin Esfahan isIran’smasterpiece, thejewelof x ESFAHAN the hotel and There’s asimilarlyunexcitingrestaurant in beafutileendeavour.it willalmostcertainly with abalcony.You’llwanttobargain, but has unexcitingbutfunctionalrooms,most on themainroadnearwhere stop, thebuses Regular slow buses between Esfahan between Regular slowbuses Hotel Saraban Hotel Hotel Shahin Shahin Hotel twohotels areNatanz’s usuallyquieter There are, someless-than- however, Such grandeurthatitiseasy isEsfahan’s 0311 / pop 1,630,000 / elev 1574m 0311 /pop1,630,000elev ( kababis x

( x 424 2402;s/twUS$15/30; /fax 4242603;rUS$30; nearby. nearby. lonelyplanet.com ﺍﺻﻔﻬﺎﻥ pa a ) , in ) , transferr the dynasty wasfinishedandthecapital little also Safavidaway asEurope. Subsequent rulers that were celebrated andenviedasfar advances –particularlyincarpetweaving – incomparable ImamSq( p238 ) andartistic of anempire atitspeak.Hislegacy isthe abouttransformingitintoacityworthy set fromQazvintoEsfahan,Abbasthe capital was againIran’spremier city.After moving Great), which began in1587,thatEsfahan Shah Abbas I(alsorevered asShah Abbas the wasn’t untilthegloriousreign of theSafavid prominent partsof which remain. styleof architecture,metric Seljuk several it wasadornedwiththemagnificentlygeo- andduringthenext180yearstheir capital madeEsfahan homes. In1047theSeljuks ens of mosquesandhundreds of wealthy the walledcityof Esfahanwashometodoz- construction andbythelate 10thcentury anexplosionofity. TheBuyidperiodsaw period,attest toitslongev- the Sassanid the ( p243 ), bothfrom fahan Fire Temple; p244 tory, buttheAteshkadeh-ye Esfahan(Es- ) andpillars of Little isknownof Esfahan’sancienthis- History lonelyplanet.com restriction onbuilding heights. southern partof town where there isno Bridge,of andthe fast-growing Si-o-Seh the Armenianquarter in Jolfa,southwest northern partoflow-rise thecityfrom Dasht-e Kavir. theolderand Itseparates petersEsfahan andeventually outinthe theheartof flowseastthrough Mountains, shuttle orprivate taxi. outlying attractionsare easilyvisited by fromthispartofdistance Esfahan.Thefew andhotelsoffices are walking withineasy Takhti Junction.Mostof shops, thesights, and Bridge (Pol-eSi-o-Seh) Si-o-Seh tween Abbasistreet, calledChaharBagh St,be- ofthemselves alongthemiddlesection the it’s over 5kmlong,mosttravellers base gardens after which itisnamed.Although once linedwithmanypalacesandthefour (Four Gardens),wasbuiltin1597and The mainstreet, tree-lined ChaharBagh Orientation The Mongols put an end to that, and it The Mongolsputanendtothat,andit The Zayandeh River starts in the Zagros River intheZagros starts The Zayandeh more afterAbbas’ acentury than death contributed toEsfahan’s skyline,but ed first toShiraz andlater Tehran. caters tomore southerlydestinations. St; thesmallerSoffeh terminal inthesouth kilometres northof townalongChaharBagh books onIran. afewbasi Hotel alsosell English-language Bookshops inthecomplexopposite theAb- BOOKSHOPS Information (see the touristinformationoffice There isalsoafree tourist mapavailable at (IR15,000; 2006)isavailable inbookstores. Shenasi’sGita MAPS several languages. several Tehran (390km) To Qom(265km); (2km) Pigeon Towers Esfahan (2km); To Ateshkadeh-ye Saremiyeh St 4 1 3 2 Keshavars ESFAHAN The mainKaveh busterminal isafew 3 9 Sorush BusTerminal(Busesto A3 Manar Jomban(ShakingMinarets)..... TRANSPORT SLEEPING SIGHTS &ACTIVITIES INFORMATION Zayandeh RudTerminal...... Airport)...... Soffeh Terminal...... Kaveh Terminal...... Jey MinibusTerminal...... Hotel Soffeh...... (see7) Hotel Kaveh...... (see6) University ofIsfahan...... Department ofAliensAffairs...... Al-Zahra Hospital......

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CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan 2 Khaayam Marnan

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CENTRAL IRAN 0230; Mellat Blvd)Onthegroundfloor.0230; Mellat Ambulance EMERGENCY Hotel Kowsar International Bookshop Abbasi Hotel 234 has big range, including many out-of-print worksonIran. has bigrange,includingmanyout-of-print Shahid Medani St; Medani Shahid Esfahan (9km) Ateshkadeh-ye Jomban (7km); To Manar Bridge (1.5km) To Marnan Sa'di Blvd 4 1 3 2 5 CENTRAL ESFAHAN CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan Abuzar Bridge 57 Jolfa 53

60 38 St Abuzar Masjed-e Sayyed St

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24 Tayab St Tayab (Map (Map p234 ;

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18

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37

3 Esma'il St Esma'il Imam 32 Sq to open and close faster thanthedoorofto openandclose a Esfahan’s ACCESSINTERNET police Tourist Abbasi St; outside the Madraseh-ye Chahar Bagh. Chahar outside theMadraseh-ye can befoundatthisboothinthemiddleofstreet 13 See ImamSquare Ferdosi St Map p238

52 Felestin St Felestin 46 12 55

Hafez St 15 h

Qeyam Solid St Solid

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Zayandeh River Bagh 221 5953;Chahar

Moshtagh St Valiasr St Valiasr Hasht

lonelyplanet.com

Qoddusi St Qoddusi Behesht-e Gharbi St Gharbi Behesht-e

Ahmad Abad St D Terminal (4km) To JeyMinibus To Shahrestan Bridge (3km)

0.3 mile Golzar St Golzar English-speaking staffandloadsofterminals. Couldbefaster.English-speaking Goldasteh Ave; perhrIR5000; Best hospitalin doctors. English-speaking Esfahan. 10pm) Nearthebudgetaccommodation. St, nearTakhti perhrIR8000; Junction; Central Library of Esfahan LibraryofEsfahan Central Abbasi St.More-established able tofindsomethingalongChaharBagh filthy squattoilet,butyoushould alwaysbe lonelyplanet.com Al-Zahra Hospital Al-Zahra MEDICAL SERVICES ( Aladdin Carpets p250 ). Shop ( including NomadCarpet p250 ) and opportunity tobendyourearaboutcarpets, you check emailforfree inexchange forthe carpetshops aroundImamSqlet Several Sky NetInternet Rose Internet Café Internet Negareh IR8000; machines, and ports forlaptops. machines, andports air-con. SomemachineshaveSkype. Arctic It’sinsideanarcade,upstairsontheleft. and tickets. Cheap, veryfast,withanassociatedtravelagencyfortours BaghAbbasiSt;perhrIR6000; Chahar Madraseh-ye ChaharBagh...... ...... Jameh Mosque...... Hasht BeheshtPalace...... Hammam-e AliGholiAgha...... Iran...... Decorative ArtsMuseumof Maryam)...... Church ofStMary(Kelisa-ye Bethlehem)...... Church ofBethlehem(Kelisa-ye Chubi Bridge...... Chehel SotunPalace...... Bazar-e Bozorg...... Bazar-e Bozorg...... Tourist Police...... Sky NetInternet...... Rose Internet...... Negareh InternetCafé...... Main PostOffice...... Bookshop...... (see40) Kowsar InternationalHotel Jahan-e ArzMoneyChanger...... Iran Travel&TourismTour.....(see66) International PhoneOffice...... Esfahan Hospital...... Dr HosseiniPharmacy...... DHL...... (see 66) Central LibraryofEsfahan...... Bank MelliCentralBranch...... Abbasi HotelBookshop...... (see28) SIGHTS &ACTIVITIES INFORMATION h 8am-9pm Sat-Thu, New,fast 9.30am-7pmFri) (Map (Map p234 ; ImamHosseinSq;perhr (Map (Map p234 ; Jamal-odDinAbdolrazagh Mp p233; (Map Mp p234; (Map h Mp p234; (Map 8am-8pm Sat-Thu) Friendly, 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 23 22 21 20 19 18 x 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 628 B3 D5 C1 B3 A1 B2 A5 A5 C5 B2 C2 C1 B3 B1 B3 B3 C2 B2 B2 B3 B3 B3 B2 668 4444;Soffeh St) h h x coffeenets x SLEEPING Tourist Hotel...... Shad Hotel...... Sahel Hotel...... Safir Hotel...... Safavi Hotel...... Sadaf Hotel...... Saadi Hotel...... Pol &ParkHotel...... Persia Hotel...... ApartmentHotel...... Kowsar InternationalHotel...... Kakh Inn...... Julfa Hotel...... TraditionalHotel...... Iran Hotel...... Hotel Totia...... Hotel Meragi...... Hotel Melal...... Hotel...... Hasht BeheshtApartment Dibai House...... Residence...... Bekhradi Historical Amir KabirHostel...... Abbasi Hotel...... Museum...... (Kelisa-yeVank)& Si-o-Seh Bridge...... Natural HistoryMuseum...... Art...... (see18) Museum ofContemporary Mountaineering Federation...... 7am-11pm) 10.30am- 220 8645; 222 3698; 222 3698; : p234 St)Upstairs. Englishisspoken. ; Sepah complex oppositeAbbasiHotel. h h Abadi St)Convenientandrecommended. has EMS. acarpet.Also Sq; comehere topostanything big–like Shahid Medani St; Medani Shahid International telephone office telephone International TELEPHONE Post office postoffice Main DHL POST MoneyChanger Arz Jahan-e Branch Central Bank Melli for yourforex. Mellithe Bank andexchange shopscompete St,whereTo change, toSepah headstraight MONEY Hospital Esfahan Dr HosseiniPharmacy Sat-Thu) BaghAbbasiSt; Chahar 8am-5pm Sat-Wed,8am-noonThu)Upstairsinthe 9am-4pm Sat-Thu) Mp p234; (Map 29 27 26 25 24 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 B2 B3 A5 B4 B2 A2 B4 B3 B4 B3 C3 C2 B1 A4 B4 B2 B2 B4 B2 A5 B2 B3 A2 B2 B4 C3 C1 (Map (Map p238 ; ImamSq)Postcardsandletters. x CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan Office...... Raja TrainsTicket Local BusTerminal...... Iran AirOffice...... Ateshkadeh-yeEsfahan...... Buses toManarJomban & TRANSPORT Fallahi Miniatures...... Bazar-e Honar...... Bazar-e Bozorg...... (see13) Bazar-e Bozorg...... (see12) SHOPPING Teria Ani...... Bame SahelTeahouse...... (see48) Abbasi HotelTeahouse...... (see28) TEAHOUSES &CAFÉS Sadaf HotelRestaurant...... (see45) Restoran-e Sa’di...... Restoran-e Khayyam...... Restaurant Shahrzad...... Nobahar Restaurant...... Khorshid...... Khangostar Restaurant...... (see38) Kalleh Pache...... Fereni Hafez...... Azam Beryani...... Arabo...... EATING Zohreh Hotel...... Tous Hotel...... h (Map (Map p234 ; NeshatSt)EastofImam Mp p234; (Map 221 3520; Shahid Medani Ave; Medani 221 3520;Shahid 24hr) Centralandwellstocked. h Mp p234; (Map 8am-2.15pm &3.30-7pm (Bank Melli Markazi; Map Map Markazi; (Bank Melli x Mp p3 Sph St; Sepah p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map 223 0015;Shams x 222 3511; 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51

235 B4 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 A5 B2 A5 B4 B2 A5 B2 C2 B2 A5 C4 B4 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN than a local day trip. Fullthan alocaldaytrip. day’sguidingcostsIR210,000. ifyouwantanythingmore themadayahead contact trips; of Guides can leadavariety Arabic, French andGerman. English,Spanish, formation office;has150guidesspeaking x arranged (per day with driver andguideIR280,000). arranged (per daywithdriver ferry Carhire andlocaltourscan be train andeven tickets. staffbookplane, Abbasi Hotel;efficientEnglish-speaking St)Opposite Medani Shahid [email protected]; (below). Tours GuidesAssociationoperatesfromhere; see Tourist Esfahan staff havemapsandbrochures oncityandprovince. The UndertheAliQapuPalace;Fri) helpfulEnglish-speaking 221 6831;ImamSq; speaking guide. speaking knowledgeableSpanish-andEnglish- hotmail.com) Highly Iran Travel & Tourism Tour &Tourism Iran Travel TRAVEL AGENCIES Shafiei Maryam GuidesAssociation Tourist Esfahan Kazemi Azade The followingare probablybetter options: for, anddon’tpaymore thanhalfupfront. andwhatyou’re paying what youwanttosee very specific about mending specifically.Be experience, noneisworthrecom-however, tovisitnomads. Inour Mountains Zagros carpetshopsoffer tripsintothe Several TOURS informationoffice Tourist TOURIST INFORMATION 236 reputation; Esfahan andbeyondfrom€20aday. reputation; Esfahan guidewithagood French- andEnglish-speaking yahoo.fr) stopping fortea andpoetryrecitals alongtheway. floor. After lunch,wanderdowntothe around andtosussoutthe On thesecondday,headbackto first day.Dinneratthetraditional stopping fortea withthelocals. Getbackto town alongtheriverbank, dryingtheirwares watchingthecloth-makers ontheriver-bed and to the thebusoutto On thethirdday,take Four days by Start the‘ taking Two days ESFAHAN IN… Vank Cathedral Palace 221 3840, 221 6831; Imam Sq) Based at the tourist in- 221 3840,6831;ImamSq)Basedatthetourist CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan On dayfour,justchilloutinthesquare, onabridge,inthegardenaround Ateshkadeh-ye Esfahan ( p242 ); orinyourfavourite withabook,orrenew teahouse yourvisa. ( x ( x h 0913 3279626;azadekazemi@ ( p244 ), thenspendtheevening eatingintherelaxed Armenianquarter. 0913 3266127;marie13572002@ 8.30am-5pm Sat-Thu &2.30-6pm Half ofthe World Mp p238; (Map Mp p234; (Map carpet shops Mp p238; (Map x ( p244 ) fora(hopefullyclear)viewover Walkbackinto Esfahan. x Sofreh KhanehSonnati Imam Square 221 3840, 222 3010; ’ Manar Jomban Walking Tour Walking Zayandeh River ( p250 ) forsomethingthatmightlook goodonyour Jolfa ( p238 ) inthemorningforamore leisurely look lameh Majlesi St; lameh Majlesi Department of Aliens Affairs ofAliensAffairs Department VISA EXTENSIONS AE OQE The JAMEH MOSQUE south. are sights These northtolisted roughly Sights ric elegance of the Seljuks, through tothe through ric elegance of theSeljuks, range is quite stunning: fromthegeomet- ample neartothe pinnacleof itsage. The 800 years of Islamicdesign,witheach ex- couple of andcompare hours you cansee ture andstillaworkingmosque. Withina is a ofveritable museum Islamicarchitec- more on extending visas,see‘More Time,more onextending Please’( p395 ). veryhelpful!For outside theofficeorgiveataxidirections; Abbasi Sttohelp–theycanputyouonabusthatstops Bagh PoliceonChahar road. Alternatively,gettheTourist sideofthe (north) ontheright andleft, slight bendright anda thethirdmajorintersection is about400mafter anothershuttletaxi(IR1500)3kmwest.Thebuilding take St,then (IR700)toShariati Bridge southern endofSi-o-Seh a shuttletaxi1.7kmsouthfromthe get here, walkortake To plane/busticket. by 8amandshowedapre-booked iftheyarrived service gettingsame-day lers havereported travel- three days,butseveral from there. Itnormallytakes andfollowpointedfingers at theofficeincourtyard atthegate,pickuppaperwork ing. Showyourpassport governmentbuild- Aliens Affairsisinalarge,drab-looking of itoncewas. TheDepartment not theexpress extension h St; Police2215953;Rudaki officersatTourist speaking ( p243 frescoes of) intimetoseethestriking 7am-1.30pm Sat-Wed,7am-noonThu) is Esfahan ( p245 upmostofyour), whichwilltake Jameh Mosque Saig iaes 24) te wl up walk then p244), Minarets; (Shaking ( p242 walk,) forabridge-appreciation ( p248 ) onthesquare isagoodoption.

admission IR5000;

(Masjed-e Jameh; Map Jameh;Map (Masjed-e p234 Al- ; Mp p233; (Map h Hasht Behesht lonelyplanet.com 8-11am &1-5pm) ﺟﺎﻣﻊ x English-

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splendid 15th-century mosaics ontheside splendid 15th-centurymosaics mouldings,someMongol-era stalactite were constructed inthelate 15thcentury. porches aroundthecourtyard’sperimeter theappropriate rituals.Thetwo-storeytise would-be haji ittoprac- pilgrimswoulduse theKaabadesigned toimitate atMecca; , which issurrounded byfourcontrasting enhancements. 1121, withlater rulers makingtheirown 12th century.Themosquewasrebuilt in of theremainder destroyedbyfire inthe withmost intact, courtyard) have survived iwans two large domesabove thenorthandsouth inthe11thcentury.Ofthis, the Seljuks and thefirst sizablemosquewasbuiltby Zoroastrians, to date backtotheSassanid mosque inIran. than 20,000sqmetres, itisalsothebiggest of themore baroqueSafavid style. Atmore Mongol periodandontotherefinements lonelyplanet.com 1 3 2 JAMEH MOSQUE The In thecentre of themaincourtyard, Religious activityonthissite isbelieved isanattractive south iwan (rectangular hallsopeningontoa AC is themostelaborate, with 17 ablutions fountain 12 16 11 B 10 14 6 3 9 13 1

austere brickpillars inthesanctuary. customary Kuficinscriptionsand Seljuk’s porcha wonderfulmonumental withthe walls, andtwominarets. The see the full effect. the fulleffect. see to theneon(ordoityourself) to turnoff lit byalabaster –askthecaretaker skylights Hall Winter floral designs.NextdooristheTimurid-era Quranicinscriptionsand awash withdense est treasures –anexquisite stuccomihrab vert) ishometooneof themosque’sgreat- of SultanUljeitu go intothefineinterior rooms.The tobecalledprayer.faithful used platform withaconicalroof fromwhere the is toppedbya ofthose thesouthernhall.Thecourtyard thatareIt hasmosaics more geometric than butlater decorated bythe Safavids.Seljuks while attheotherendof thecomplex the prayer halls Molk Dome The The roombeneaththegrand To fullyappreciate thismosqueyoumust 7 4 west iwan 5 (Beit al-Sheta), builtin1448and (Beit and the Seljuk-era andtheSeljuk-era 0 either sidejustbreathe history, CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan (a14th-centuryShiite con- was originallybuiltbythe maazeneh, 15 8 a lMl oe...... B1 Taj al-MolkDome...... Winter Hall...... West Iwan...... Ticket Office...... South Iwan...... Room ofSultanUljeitu...... Prayer Hall...... North Iwan...... Nezam al-MolkDome...... Main Entrance...... Hypostyle PrayerHall...... Hypostyle PrayerHall...... Entrance Hall...... East Iwan...... Courtyard...... Bazaar...... Ablutions Fountain...... SIGHTS &ACTIVITIES 2

asmallraised Allameh Majlesi St Majlesi Allameh north iwan north To Qeyam Sq (100m) D Nezam al- 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 50m Room 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 237 has A2 B2 C3 B3 B2 B3 B2 B3 C3 C3 B1 C3 C2 B2 C3 B2

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IMAM SQUARE See Imam Mosque Mosque Imam See Sepah St

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Hafez St 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A2 A3 A4 B2 A2 B2 B3 B2 B4 B1 B3 A3 A3 A2 ‘Naqsh-e Jahan’ orthe‘Masjed-e Jameh’. just wander;ifyouget lost,askanyonefor edly thebestwaytodiscover thebazaaristo Trade isbusiestinthemornings.Undoubt- inent are tothewest. off thecarpetsellers, areas of thebazaar. Among themore prom- ries andaslowrestoration iscontinuing. paintings have deteriorated over thecentu- ing Shah Abbas’ warwiththeUzbeks. These up, frescoes bythegreat RezaAbbasi depict- gateway isdecorated withtilesand,higher at thenorthernendof ImamSq.Thehigh trance isviathe tered atdozensof points,butthemainen- of asingletrade(egcarpet). Itcanbeen- h AA- BZR Esfahan’s BOZORG BAZAR-E show youaround. will summonanEnglish-speaking guideto once you’ve paidadmission thegatekeeper among theoldestpartsof the mosque. forest of domesare imposingpillars. These 900 years. Toreach a ityouwalkthrough quakes withnaryablemish formore than dozensof earth- perfect, andhassurvived tively tobemathematically small,itissaid built.Whilerela-the finestbrickdomeever Taj al-MolkDome cially called whileitisnowoffi- place today,because him. Thedescription wouldn’tbeoutof square calledNaqsh-eJahan thatinspired century, it was themyriadwonders of the fahan as‘halfof theworld’in16th When French RenierdescribedEs- poet IMAM SQUARE (NAQSH-EJAHAN SQUARE) caravanserais and in theearly1600s. during Shah Abbas’ aggressive expansions todaywasbuilt old, mostof whatyousee Mosque, are more years than athousand est partsof thebazaar,aroundJameh onto thecommercebelow.Whileold- aperture atitsapexspillingshaftsof light ofby aseries smalldomes,each with an The bazaar’sarched are passageways topped with theJameh Mosque,1.7kmnortheast. people use thatnameand it remainspeople use home Industries tend tocongregate incertain The The bazaarisamazeof lanes,madrasehs, approximately 9am-8pmSat-Thu) ticket office ticket Bazar-e Bozorg Bazar-e Imam Square iswidelyconsidered tobe Qeysarieh Portal Qeysarieh ﺟﻬﺎﻥ isatthe timcheh,

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ﺑﺎﺯﺍﺭ and ) Tea Shop ( p249 ). you can’tbeattheviewfromQeysarieh the splendidarchitecture isilluminated; aretains softens turnedon,thelight and eign tourists.Thisisalsowhenthefoun- flood intooutnumbertheIranianandfor- whenlocalfamilies noon andearlyevening aroundthesquare.sale polo matches depicted onminiatures for polo games400years ago. these You’llsee inregular thegoalpostsused can stillsee Ateitherendoffountains. thesquare, you recently bythePahlavis, whoaddedthe reconstitutedhas been times,most several are The openspace stillbeingdiscussed. of asamuseum Esfahan’s history it foruse long-talked-about planstorestorethough rounding thesquare days, isemptythese ofbuilt. Theupperlevel arched arcadessur- is bigger. severe TiananmenZedong’s SqinBeijing second-largest square onearth–onlyMao spaceisthe and 163mwide,thisimmense Palace At512mlong Portal. andQeysarieh indulgent andlavishly decorated AliQapu elegant Sheikh LotfollahMosqueandthe incomparable ImamMosque,thesupremely the finestjewelsof theSafavid empire –the thesquarecapital, wasdesignedashometo in 1602asthecentrepiece of Abbas’ new the visionof Shah Abbas theGreat. Begun world’, andit’saworldthatowesmuch to buildings intheIslamicworld. to arguably themostmajestic collectionof lonelyplanet.com mmMsu The Imam Mosque artist’s humility intheface of Allah.It was apparent symmetry, intended to reflect the years tofinish –lookformismatches inits it tookfour in1611,although trance portal complements thearchitectural elegance. tuous decorationof themosqueperfectly and theabilityof hisarchitect. Thesump- ument totheimaginationof Shah Abbas I architecture formavisuallystunningmon- and itsperfectly proportioned Safavid-era richness of designs itsblue-tiledmosaic most beautifulmosquesintheworld.The sunset summer, closed 11am-1pm Friday) sunset summer,closed11am-1pmFriday) sion IR4000; The square is bestvisited inthelate after- The square has changed littlesinceitwas Naqsh-e Jahan means‘pattern of the Work started on themagnificenten- Imam Mosque h 8am-sunset, 8am-11.30am&12.30pm- (Masjed-e Imam; Map Imam;Map (Masjed-e p239 admis- ; is oneof the ﺍﻣﺎﻡ

ﻣﺴﺠﺪ connects thesquare andthe Mecca andashort,angledcorridorneatly the square, themosqueisoriented towards panel withitsownintricate design. mouldings inahoneycombpattern, each complexstalactite splendid niches contain by themostskilledartistsof theage. The ric designs,floralmotifsandcalligraphy moarraq kashi isdecorated30m tall, withmagnificent some itself, andtheportal from Ardestan The foundationstonesare of white marble attheentrancetoBazar-etal Bozorg. ing acounterpoint Por- totheQeysarieh provid-function wasprimarilyornamental, than withthemosque’sspiritualaims.Its more todo withitslocationonthesquare original purpose oforiginal purpose the design thatleaves alastingimpression. The a masterpiece, itistheunityof theoverall changed since. fore themosque,wascompleted. Littlehas Shah Abbas, dome,andthere- thatthehigh not until1629,thelastyearof thereign of 1 3 2 IMAM MOSQUE Although the portal wasbuilttoface theportal Although Although each ofAlthough the mosque’spartsis nrnePra...... B1 Entrance Portal...... &...... Main Sanctuary...... Madraseh...... Madraseh...... Inner Courtyard...... East Sanctuary...... East Iwan...... 5 A 15 CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan (mosaics) featuring geomet-(mosaics) 14

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, CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN framed bypainted tilesknownas themostexquisite sunkencontain porches, imposing with itspoolforritualablutions andfour 240 background. particularly finefloralmotifsonablue east iwan (see p66 ) of blueandyellow.Each deep throughout themosque.throughout Themarble foraspeakerthan enough tobeheard 12 are audibletothehumanear–more have measured onlyabout upto49echoes, the centre of thedome. scientists Although your footontheblackpaving stonesunder heardwhenyou stamp for theloudechoes isresponsibleThe hollowspaceinbetween inconstruction. to thedouble-layeringused buttheexterior reacheshigh, upto51mdue background. Theinterior ceilingis36.3m blue tric circlesof onadeep busymosaics (the flowerbasket) surroundedbyconcen- pattern domed ceiling,withitsgoldenrose to sitandcontemplate therichness of the iwan views back to the two turquoise views backtothetwoturquoise and provide goodviewsof themain are thecourtyards of twomadrasehs. Both istoppedbyanelegantdome. again. Each med andAliare picked outover andover calligraphy inwhich thenamesof Moham- by projecting balconiesand white geometric above is encircled Each theentranceportal. The The main sanctuary providesThe mainsanctuary wonderful To the east and west of the main sanctuary To theeastandwestof themainsanctuary rangi complex withmillions ofindividualmosaictiles,larger prefabricated patterned tiles called back witharoyalpardon. where, becausethewisdomofhisdecisionhadbeen demonstrated,court hewaswelcomed Heeventually wasunderstandablynervous. returned totheand blindedanother,soEsfahani until Abbascalmeddown.After twosons all,Abbaswasnotoriouslyinsecure andhadkilled himselfscarce washavingnoneofit.Heflatlydefiedhisbossbefore making Ali AkbarEsfahani, despite architect,insisting workonthewallsbestarted thefoundationshaving notyetset.His completed. and ashegrew olderhegrew ever-more impatienttoseehisgreatest architectural endeavour left thebuilding.25 yearsbefore Hewasalready the last oftheartisans 52whenworkbegan, When theImamMosquewasbegun, AbbastheGreat probablydidn’tthinkitwouldbeShah SHAH INAHURRY CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan . Find yourself aquietcornerinwhich. Findyourself minbar and leadsintoavaultedThe sanctuary. Some of the time-saving techniques wereSome ofthetime-saving quite innovative: ratherthancovering theentire Legend hasitAbbasrepeatedly demandedthatcornersbecuttohasten theprogress, even main sanctuary were created –they’ve beenstandard ever since. west sanctuaries iwans are alsobeautifullycrafted. . Thewallsof thecourtyard isentered viathe are covered with dome haft rangi minarets mihrab with with south

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ﻣﺴﺠﺪ architect andthedate 1028AH. the calligraphicmontage thatnamesthe niche; lookfor and hasanunusuallyhigh play of andshadow. light changingdows produceaconstantly inter- filter thefew latticedwin- inthrough high, exquisite centre. Theshaftsof that sunlight motifs drawingthevisitor’seyeinto narily beautifulwithitsshrinking,yellow the wallsandceiling,which isextraordi- the complexityof thatadorn themosaics different axis. facing Mecca, andthusonacompletely grand square outsideintoaprayerhall ittakes theworshipperbecause fromthe both thedesignandfunctionof themosque blue tilework.Thishallwayisintegral to ness assubtleshiftsof playacrossdeep light the eyesbecomeaccustomedtodark- IR4000; hall isreached viaatwisting of theshah’sharem. The astheworship placeforthewomen served butrather intendednever forpublicuse, themosquewaswas probably because lonelyplanet.com l auPlc six-storey a residence forShah Abbas I,themajestic Built atthevery endof the16thcenturyas Ali QapuPalace throne room revolution. some remain However, in the during theQajar periodandsincethe 1979 corridors were andstairways destroyed that once decorated thesmallrooms, saics of thenearbyChehelSotunPalace. beams,reminiscentinlay workandexposed an attractive woodenceiling withintricate the ImamMosque. Ifyoulookup,you’llsee over thesquare andoneof thebestviewsof awonderful perspectiveThe terrace affords terrace elevated in anycapital’. described itas‘thelargest built palaceever it did.French traveller SirJohn Chardin pression andatsixstoreys and48mtall the ImamAli,itwasbuilttomake anim- parklands beyond.NamedforAbbas’ hero, of Ali’)totheroyalpalacesthat lay inthe gateway (AliQapumeansthe‘Gatemental Photography is allowed but flashes are not. Photography isallowedbutflashesare not. The mihrab at youcanmarvel Inside thesanctuary Many of thevaluablepaintingsandmo- of thepalaceisarguablyThe highlight the h 8am-sunset) , which leadsoff theterrace. Ali QapuPalace withits18slendercolumns.

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ﮐﺎﺥ the walls. examples of Persian secular art,extends to considered bysometobeoneof thefinest acoustics. Thisdistinctive craftsmanship, utensils cuttoenhancethe other household ing isriddledwiththeshapesof and vases definitely worththeclimb.Thestuccoceil- the Achaemenid-inspired pleasure pavilion andreception hall,using famous foritsfrescoes. Itwasbuiltasa 8am-noon &2pm-sunsetsummer) (Map p234 St;admissionIR5000; ; Ostandari Abbasihar Bagh St,Safavid-era ImamSqandCha- royal parklandsbetween One of theonly palacesfromthe surviving CHEHEL SOTUN PALACE Afghans, who whitewashedAfghans, thepaintingsto the18th-century invasionbythe survived Persia extraordinary works in1543.These Humayun, theIndian princewhofledto Suleiman; andShahtan Tahmasp receives (infantrymen) oftles thejanissaries Sul- an ostentatious banquet;Shah Ismailbat- toleft,Shahright Abbas Ipresides over dancing girls. ofKhan Turkestan withmusiciansand and Shah Abbas IIwelcomesKingNader a white elephant)onanIndianbattleground; Mahmud battlesSultan (astride of Shah IsmaildobattlewiththeUzbeks; to left,above theentrancedoor,armies great battles of theSafavid era. Fromright ously portrayingcourtlife andsomeof the historical frescoes onagrandscale,sumptu- ceramics. Theupperwallsare dominated by a rich array of frescoes, miniatures and pool infrontof thepalace. pillars’ –thenumberreflected inthelong quisite inlaywork.ChehelSotunmeans‘40 wooden ceilingwithcrossbeamsandex- toasuperb der, ribbedwoodenpillars rise dens andinterior splendour. Its20slen- thePersiantransition between love of gar- was rebuilt after afire in1706. Abbas today II.Eitherway,whatyousee completed in1647underthewatch of Shah inscription uncovered itwas in1949says an to thepalacedatingfrom1614;however, porch) style. There are historicalreferences On theupperfloor, On thewallopposite thedoor,alsofrom The Great Hall (ThroneHall) contains The palaceisentered viatheelegant terrace, which perfectly bridges the CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan talar is todaymost music room ﭼﻬﻠﺴﺘﻮﻥ Chehel Sotun h (columnar 8am-5pm,

241

ﮐﺎﺥ is CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN time forphotos(flashnotallowedinside). morningisthebest and abookshop.Early p234 BaghAbbasiSt; ; Chahar Mother;Map orTheological SchooloftheShah’s Shah dar-e IR3000; home aboutthem. ter butwon’thave towrite yourushingoff that enticing.Theexhibitsinsideare bet- the fibreglass dinosaursoutfrontare not IR3000; The MADRASEH-YE CHAHAR BAGH Palace fahan, theinterior of thesmall Once themostluxuriouslydecorated inEs- HASHT BEHESHTPALACE Museum ral History 15th-century buildingishometothe fahani artists;whileonthecorneralarge shows temporary exhibits,mainlyof Es- ofIran Museum ace are threeThe museums. Near theentrancetoChehelSotunPal- MUSEUMS od-Din’s hat,are kept inasmall Other items, includingSafavid forebear Safi show theirdisapproval of such extravagance. 242 sive complexthat includedacaravanserai 1704and 1714aspartofbetween anexpan- the AliQapuPalace. of shapes –similartothemusicroomin mouldings andceilingscutinto a variety some impressive and stalactite mosaics was builtinthe1660s.Theinterior boasts trees inthesurroundingpark. tomirrorthe open-sided terrace seeming with thesoaringwoodencolumnsonits itretainsHowever, aseductive tranquillity, extensivelybeen damaged over theyears. Contemporary Art Contemporary costumes, weaponsandhorse gear. traditional raphy, ceramics,woodcarvings, ware, lacquerwork,ancientQurans,callig- Qajar periods,includingminiatures, glass- afinecollectionfromtheSafavidtains and warehouse toSafavid kings.Todayitcon- and asstables building thatonceserved IR3000; In thegardenthere isasmallteahouse Hasht heavens’, meaning ‘eight Behesht, Just to the north (right) the Just tothenorth(right) CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan Madraseh-ye Chahar Bagh Chahar Madraseh-ye h Mp p3 amsin IR3000; admission p234; (Map h h 8am-1pm &2-5pm,4-9pmsummer) 9am-noon &4-7pmSat-Thu, 5-8pmsummer) 8am-1pm Sat-Wed,8am-noonThu)

(Map (Map p234 St;admission ; Ostandari

(Map (Map p234 St;admission ; Ostandari

(Map (Map p234 St;admission ; Ostandari h No Ruzonly) (Madraseh-ye Maza- (Madraseh-ye h ﺑﻬﺸﺖ ﭼﻬﺎﺭﺑﺎﻍ Decorative Arts Arts Decorative Hasht Behesht 8am-8pm) museum Museum of Museum wasbuilt

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ﮐﺎﺥ . cently restored In thehistoricdistrictof Bid Abad, there- HAMMAM-E ALIGHOLIAGHA andanattractivequisite mosaics dome. Safavid-era minarets inEsfahan,someex- hall withasuperbmihrab the students’rooms.Arounditare aprayer rounded bytwo-storey porches leadingto do, you’llfindatree-filled courtyardsur- tobefriendastudentgetneed in.Ifyou No Ruzperiod(admission IR30,000),you’ll tovisitors. Apartfromthetwo-week closed silver doorbutthis,unfortunately, ismostly for theupkeep of themadraseh. Honar. buildingspaid fromthese Revenues (now theAbbasi Hotel) andtheBazar-e ioSh rde The 298m-long Bridge Si-o-Seh noon thanstrollingalongthe There are few better waystospendanafter- ZAYANDEH RIVERBRIDGES Sat-Thu, 9am-3pmFri) SayyedSt;admissionIR10,000; Masjed-e Gholi Agha Bathhouse;Map p234 ; AliGholiAgha Alley,off bazaar, thenleftatthemosque. insideacoveredabout 250mandturnright beyond thejunctionwithTayab St.Walk (north)downAliGholiAgharight St,50m Junction onMasjed-e SayyedSt,andturn MirAhmadinKashan.tan Hammam-eespecially ifyoudidn’tsee Sul- guides are alsoavailable. It’sworthalook, ofand uses the trance, explainingtheQajar-era history Fortunately there isinformationattheen- tobathhouses. (but poorlysigned)museum o-Seh, Bridge ofo-Seh, 33 Arches or Allahverdi shorter St–theexceptionis the of ChaharBagh historic Safavid-era crossings lietotheeast Allbutoneof the new) crosstheZayandeh. are illuminated.11bridges Intotal, (sixare whenmostofand earlyevening thebridges atsunset Such astrollisespeciallypleasant fahanis reciting and just chilling out. poetry bridgesthe oldfairy-tale andlistening toEs- (Map p234 ), crossingbackandforthusing Bridge, andback. Bridge toKhajuwith thewalkfromSi-o-Seh p233 themselves ) –butmostpeoplesatisfy Entry is through animposingwood-and- Entry isthrough To get there, walkwestfromTakhti Marnan Bridge Marnan hammam Hammam-e AliGholiAgha Hammam-e is now a well-maintained is nowawell-maintained Si-o-Seh Bridge Si-o-Seh (Pol-eMarnan; Map . English-speaking , twoof thefinest lonelyplanet.com ﺭﻭﺩ ﺁﻗﺎ Zayandeh River h (Pol-e Si-

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northern one remains (see northern oneremains (see p249 ). larger onlythe arches underneath,though of the thebridge, through bothaccessed cently there were ateitherend teahouses toholdwater today.Untilre-still used asbothbridge anddam,is It served upper andlowerhalves St. of ChaharBagh Abbas 1599and1602tolinkthe I,between Allahverdi afavourite Khan, general of Shah Bridge;Khan Map p234 ) wasbuiltby lonelyplanet.com can still see originalpaintingsandtiles, can stillsee regulating water flow.Ifyoulookhard, locks raced arcades,thelowercontaining placeasabearermeeting of traffic. asmuch a as adam,andhasalwaysbeen since thetimeof Tamerlane). Italsodoubles tohaveis believed thewaters crossed here Abbas abridge IIinabout 1650(although Bridge Khaju Arguably thefinestof Esfahan’s bridges, the Bridge Khaju will beagain. inIran;hopefullyit atmospheric teahouses one of parlours wasoneof these themost of theshahandhiscourtiers. Untilrecently parlours withinwere fortheexclusive use ace gardensinthearea. Chubiandthetwo II in1665,primarilytohelpirrigate pal- Bridge Nearly 150mlong,andwith21arches, Bridge Chubi Its 110m length has two levels ofIts 110mlengthhastwolevels ter- the qalyan. attractions. are Withluck,thecitywillseetoitthat theteahouses reopened –even without abiggershareand (rightly)thinks itdeserves ofinternational tourists,haslostsomeof itsbest ateachother–have beenforcedtoclose. looking together anddodangerousthings–like cigarettes almostanywhere. The result isthatplaceswhere youngmenandwomenmightget campaignisjusta smokescreen –afterand theantismoking all,theysay,youcanstillsmoke areOthers convincedtheriseofreligious intheprovincial government conservatives istoblame though given inthesestoneplaces forcenturiesthisseemsunlikely. thatpeople have beensmoking wasdamaging saythetobaccosmoke thebridges,down onthehighlyunhealthyqalyan. Others remains (see opposite ). Bridge endofSi-o-Seh by onetheyhave atthenorthern beenclosedandonlytheteahouse have beendoingsincethebridges wereas Esfahanis builtmore than300yearsago. Butone were loved placesto socialiseover bylocalsandvisitorsalike, tea andqalyan(water pipe)just Bridges. ChubiandSi-o-Seh These intheKhaju, teahousesstopping intheatmosphericteahouses One ofthegreat joysofanyvisitto alongtheZayendehRiver and usedtobewalking Esfahan MOURNING ZAYANDEH RIVERTEAHOUSES Whatever thereason, tothinkofitselfasthe‘Venice thecitythatlikes East’ oftheMiddle Various reasons have beenoffered teahouses. Somecite thecrack- forclosingthesewonderful (Map p234 ) wasbuiltbyShah Abbas (Map p234 ) wasbuiltbyShah ﺧﻮﺍﺟﻮ ﭼﻮﺑﯽ Chubi

ﭘﻞ ﭘﻞ serving aChristiancommunityof about serving and anoldcemetery scattered aroundJolfa, kept awayfromtheIslamiccentres. restricted tothisarea across theriver and ligious freedom respected, buttheywere The ArmenianChristianshadtheirre- Vank reveals whathewasafter. Cathedral neurs andartists–alookatthewallsof theirskillsasmerchants, entrepre-sought and namedthevillage ‘NewJolfa’.Abbas Iran’s northernborder;see p156 ) enmasse, Christians fromthetownof Jolfa(nowon Abbas I,whotransported thiscolonyof (Map p234 ). Itdates fromthetimeof Shah The Armenianquarter of Esfahanis JOLFA: THEARMENIANQUARTER of Khaju Bridge, walk. it’sapleasant nian bridge. it’salmost4kmeast Although selves remain fromamuch earlierSassa- thepillarsthe 12thcentury,although them- and brickstructure todate isbelieved from (Map p233 ). Mostof the11-arched stone This isthe oldest of Esfahan’sbridges Bridge Shahrestan tea andsnacks. sell anymore. Vendors attheendof thebridge for hispleasure. butnot Itwasateahouse, the centre, apavilion wasbuiltexclusively Abbas IItositonandadmire theviews.In the remains builtforShah of stoneseats Today there are 13Armenian churches CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan ﺍﺭﺍﻣﻨﻪ ﺷﻬﺮﺳﺘﺎﻥ

ﮐﻠﻴﺴﺎی Jolfa 243

ﭘﻞ

CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN ask forhelpatthecathedral. often are, anddoor-knocking work, doesn’t less flair. Ifthechurches are asthey closed, this sight, but it’sonlybarelythis sight, worth the once an hour, onthehour. Iranianslove tury. Attendants climbup toshake them minarets were addedduringthe17th cen- other minaret, swayingback andforth.The against oneminaret it,and the willstart & 3-5pm,to6pmsummer) p233 ; Saremiyeh St;admissionIR5000; known as Esfahan inKaladyn. Thetombispopularly is7km a revered dervish, west of central The 14th- century tombof Abu Abdullah, MANAR JOMBAN(SHAKING MINARETS) Jolfa Sq) Bethlehem on thewallsandceilingsof the two are open(sometimes).Thefrescoes Of theother12churches in Jolfaonlythese Other Churches thedral couragement of theSafavid rulers, 1606and1655withtheen- Built between Cathedral Vank liberal village atmosphere. aroundfordinnerintherelativelystaying and thesights far) intheafternoon, seeing 7000. It’sworthheadingouthere (it’snot 244 The rounded bypaintingsof Biblicalscenes. issur-golden background,whilethebase decorated with swirlingblackmotifsona thedral. Theinterior of dome is thehigh inVankof qualitythanthose ahigher Ca- admission IR10,000) times wonderfullygruesome. frescoes are trulymagnificent,andsome- characterises mostchurches inIran.The designs alongsideChristianimagery –that curious mixture of styles–Islamictilesand interior isrichly decorated andshowsthe church’s exterior isunexciting,butthe point of theArmenianchurch inIran.The St; adult/studentIR30,000/16,000; covering theArmeniangenocide inTurkey. handwritten booksandadisturbingdisplay amongotherthings,moretains, than700 2-5.30pm, to6.30pmsummer) The attached VankThe attached Cathedral CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan Church ofStMary issimilarlydecorated, with though

(Kelisa-ye Vank; (Kelisa-ye Map p234 ;

(Kelisa-ye Bethlehem; Map Bethlehem; Map (Kelisa-ye p234 St; Nazar ; Manar Jomban Manar , builtin1628,are arguably because pushinghard because

(Kelisa-ye Maryam; Map Map Maryam; (Kelisa-ye p234 ; isthehistoricfocal (Shaking Minarets; Map Map Minarets; (Shaking h x h 8am-12.30pm & museum 624 3471; Kelisa 624 3471;Kelisa ﻭﺍﻧﮏ 8.30am-1pm ﺟﻨﺒﺎﻥ Church of Vank Ca-

ﮐﻠﻴﺴﺎی con-

ﻣﻨﺎﺭ 14,000 birds.Todaytheyare made unused, pigeon towers, about each abletohouse was collected inalmost3000squat,circular famous fields of watermelons. Theguano to supply guano asfertiliser forthecity’s For centuriesEsfahanrelied onpigeons PIGEON TOWERS Manar road. Jomban,alongthesame on aclearday.It’sabout 2kmwestfromthe minute scramble uphillisworththeeffort city fromalowhillonitsoutskirts.The10- stare outover River andthe theZayandeh fahan bling mudbricksof the times,thecrum- Dating fromSassanian ATESHKADEH-YE ESFAHAN another alternative (aboutIR40,000). Ateshkadeh-ye Esfahanfire temple is foranhourtoincludethenearby a taxi one.point youtotheright Chartering Jomban; themaninticket boothwill Abbasiof ChaharBagh StrunpastManar Stfromnearthecorner west alongBaha’i shaken atall. notbe trip –andonslowdaystheymight admission IR2000; Many (IR250,20minutes) going buses A SHAKE TOOFAR? stone –pulltheother leg.’ by onetraveller, whowrote: ‘Flexible the twominarets. It’satheory supported betweenthat bendsandisthe connection it seemsmore feasible thatit’sthetimber the minarets are madeofbrickandtimber, show nopropensitytoshake. structed fromthesame sandstoneandyet were con- that otherbuildingsinEsfahan pointsout views.conflicting Anotherexpert to theminarets shaking. There are, however, thereby thefact are nohistoricreferences The geologists saytheirtheoryissupported leaving stoneflexibleandliabletoshake. called felspar, whichdissolves over time, used intheminarets containssomething ologists’ suggestingthesandstone report have studiedabitmighteven quote age- explanation ofvibrationtheory.Somewho and theyare toembarkonalengthy likely minaretsAsk shake guideswhytheshaking

Then again,there’s another theory.As (Esfahan Fire(Esfahan Temple; offMap p233 St; Saremiyeh ; h 8.30am-5pm, to6pminsummer) Ateshkadeh-ye Es- Ateshkadeh-ye lonelyplanet.com ﺍﺻﻔﻬﺎﻥ ﺧﺎﻧﻪ

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ﮐﺒﻮﺗﺮ locally made cloth being laid out to dry. locally madeclothbeinglaidouttodry. great afternoon, andyou’re alsolikely tosee The 10kmwalkbackintoEsfahanmakes a River south the Zayandeh the city’senvirons. than 700of themud-brick towers remain in redundant bychemical fertiliser, butmore lonelyplanet.com Madraseh-ye Nimurvand Madraseh-ye foraboutkeep 40mtoget straight tothe theoccasionalgarden. even and madrasehs, banks,bathhouses teahouses, busier, withdomesticgoodsshops, mosques, (3) dominated butcharismatic little goodsandatleastonemale- ing household the thequieter alleysof you’llpassthrough Lane, around thebazaar. ContinuingeastonHakim you’ll enter thenarrow,attractive lanes over therooftops of thebazaar. southeastern corner,you’llenjoyfineviews sive echo and,ifyouclimbthestairs inthe beneath thesouthern ture builtabout1000years ago. Thedome fromtheBuyid-dynastystruc- has survived (besidethenorthernentrance) tiful portal Esfahan’s oldestmosque,butonlythebeau- Alley toreach thenorthernentrance. Thisis continue northandturnwestalongHakim entrance shouldbeopen,butifit’snot Mosque(1) Hakim roof. About 150malongyou’llcometothe reach Hakim St,crossingunderthebazaar bazaar, then turn left(north) whenyou the RussianConsulate andintoacovered (east ) downquietGolbaharSt.Walkpast Abbasialong ChaharBagh Standturnright Sq,walknorth atImamHossein Starting of several thecity’shighlights.through world’, andthiswalkingtourtakes you Esfahan isoften describedas‘halfof the Tour ‘Half oftheWorld’Walking head down Haruniyeh St. You’ll soon see the head down Haruniyeh the St.You’ll soonsee stopping for alookatthe about11amand1pm. between ber it’sclosed ( Abdolrazagh Stto theimposing bazaar andfollowitacrossJamal-od-Din shouldn’t loiter toolong).Rejointhemain normally welcomevisitors women (though 5 ; p236 ) –give timehere yourself andremem- . The bazaar veers northeast and becomes . Thebazaarveers northeastandbecomes The best place to see themisdotted along The bestplacetosee At a fork the main bazaar veers right, but At aforkthemainbazaarveers but right, thenorthernentrance through Exiting From the mosque, skirt around Qeyam Sq, From themosque, skirtaroundQeyamSq, Bazar-e Bozorg Bazar-e on the right. Thewestern ontheright. ( 2 ; p238 ), withvendors sell-

(4) iwan , where the students , where thestudents of theAteshkadeh. bird market (6) bird market hasanimpres- Jameh Mosque Jameh Mosque chaykhaneh chaykhaneh ὈὈ ὈὈ ὈὈ , and , and

Sadr wards ImamSq.Enroute, the the shaftsof andspice-filled sunlight airto- main bazaarandwandersouthwest through ful grand p238 the through upstairs tothedelight- ), gostraight p238) tling bazaar. Onentering provide respite momentary fromthebus- andKhamenei. Khomeini big,photogenic of yard alsocontains mosaics Shiite Imam(no-oneisquite sure). Thecourt- ing thesonof the10th,orperhaps the11th, frescoes depict- somehigh-quality containing Harun pilgrimage Vilayet),animportant site century the mosqueandbackabout20mis16th- hidden underQajar-era decoration.Opposite sive Safavid paintingsthatuntilrecently were which wasrebuilt in1522,are someimpres- by setting off to explore the jewels of Esfahan: off to exploreby setting thejewelsof Esfahan: by either followingthecovered or the square. After tea, launch intothesquare ( attractive, 48m-high 7 WORLD WALKINGTOUR HALF OFTHE ;

Continuing west keep right torejoinContinuing westkeep right the START on howoften youstopandforhowlong Duration Distance Finish Start WALKING TOUR Manar-e Masjed-e Ali).Insidethemosque, Hossein Qeysarieh TeaQeysarieh Shop

Imam Chahar Bagh Abbasi St Chahar Bagh-é

Golbahar St Sq ὈὈ ὈὈ (9) Pa'in St Junction Takhti hasalarge, green courtyard thatcan

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Beheshti St

about7km Ostandari St Ostandari fourtoseven hours,depending

HakimGhalandarhra St Hakim Lane CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan 1

Jamal-od-Din Abdolrazagh St 12 2 15 9 3 Imam Sq 11 10 Minaret of the Mosque of Ali oftheMosqueAli Minaret ( Ὀ 12 END 500m 0 0 4 14 29) overlooking p249), ; 17 13 Qeysarieh Portal Qeysarieh

Hafez St Imam Square Imam Square 8 7

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8 Neshat St St 6 ; Bogh-e ; Bogh-e Hatef St Qeyam Sq 0.3 mile ( 245 ( 10 11

; ; CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN Sonnati with amealatthetraditional theday comeup.Sublime!Roundoff lights the square downand the asthesungoes playsoftlying spot!)towatch thelight over Teasarieh Shop (yes,there’s nobetter view- St. Ifnot,justheadbackuptotheQey- Chehel SotunPalace the rear of AliQapuPalace andcrosstothe ( Mosque 75,000/120,000/150,000; Bagh AbbasiSt;dm/s/tw/trIR35,000/ hotmail.com; Chahar 29; Bagh AbbasiSt;sUS$16-21, twUS$22- hotel.com; Chahar Breakfast is served foranextraIR15,000. Breakfast isserved liness isnotasconsistent asitcouldbe. Rooms andthedormare basic,andclean- tickets andsomereasonably pricedtours. bookingonward with adviceontimetables, spending money,butthey’re helpfulenough managers, brothers, notlike Ziaee might and, forlackof competition,itstill is.The Kabir Esfahan’sbackpacker hasbeen base shared bathrooms.Frontrooms are noisy. three-bed roomsandsometimes-whiffy central option,withsmall,clean two- and IR90,000/160,000/180,000) BaghAbbasiSt;s/tw/trwithbreakfast Chahar yahoo.com; good feel. and that’sit.Butmanager Omid creates a shortish beds,bathrooms(most of them) Amir Kabir Hostel Hostel Amir Kabir BUDGET head off. can bescarce. Atothertimes,bargain your March untiltheendof June,whenrooms ofwalking distance Imam Sq. on footandmostof placesare these within area especially. Esfahanisbestdiscovered so thingsare improving inthemidrange city’s first traditionalhotels have opened, character. inrecent However, years the relatively expensive andratherlackingin Much of Esfahan’s accommodationis Sleeping the 246 Chahar BaghAbbasiSt;s/dUS$11/18) Chahar 15 If youstillhave theenergy, exitthrough Kakh Inn Kakh Sahel Hotel Sahel Shad Hostel Esfahan’s high season runsfrommid- season Esfahan’s high a p241). ; Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque Lotfollah Sheikh CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan ) Fresh paint,soft bedsandbathrooms ( ( 17 14 p248). ; 29)n the p239)and ; Mp p234; (Map

Mp p234 ; (Map Mp p234; (Map

Mp p234; (Map ( i 16 Small roomshere have x ; p241 ) onOstandari ) x Foryears theAmir x 222 5650;omid_anvary@ x ( 221 8621;fax2204264; 222 1702;www.sahel 13 Agood-value, 222 7273;mrziaee@ Ali QapuPalace p240), ; Sofreh Khaneh Khaneh Sofreh Imam It’s besidetheMasjed-e Dawazeh-Noh. den courtyards,there isalsoarestaurant. aroundtwogar-not –like theolddays.Set stored rooms,somewithbathrooms, real Safavid-style deal;five wonderfully re- khan-e sonnati Sayyed St;tw/trwithbreakfast IR250,000/300,000; nice price. Kaveh Kaveh If youhave anearlybus,functional Tous Hotel Persia Hotel for singletravellers. are abonusifyouhate air-con. Discounts rooms are available andtheoverhead fans spotless roomsatfairprices.Adjoining Another welcoming,family-runplacewith quiet room. Sahel Teahouse ( p250 ) upstairs. Ask fora is helpfulandthere’s theatmosphericBame English-speaking managerhan standards. make thiscentralplacefairvaluebyEsfa- p234; 900,000; SinaSt;rIR250,000- 2072; SonbolestanAlley,offEbn-e onEnglish-languageguarantee channels. there’sair-con, though no fridge andTV, All theroomsinthisrange have bathrooms, MIDRANGE many. ai BaghAbbasiSt;s/tw/trIR180,000/260,000/315,000; Chahar ari St;aptfromIR350,000; ari nal, and Bagh AbbasiSt,nearTakhti s/twUS$20/28; Junction; price. Great value! (don’t fall over) charges thesame everyone engagingand informative, and is efficient, tral location.English-speaking Mohammad four-bed apartmentsinawonderfullycen- two-,three- and if-not-desperately-stylish Hasht offers reliable, Behesht comfortable- US$21-28; AbbasAbadSt;swithbreakfast US$15-20,tw yahoo.com; US$21/27; a bathroom; dubiousplumbing. Family-run; veryclean,relatively spaciousroomswith o Hotel Totia Hotel Everything’s full?Trythese: Saadi Hotel Bekhradi Historical Residence Residence Historical Bekhradi ) Hasht Behesht Apartment Hotel Hotel Hasht BeheshtApartment isatthenorthernendof Kaveh termi- x ) Roomsare biggerthansome,andnoisier Mp p233; (Map ai 221 4868/9; [email protected]; Ostand- 221 4868/9;[email protected]; a a Hotel Soffeh Hotel Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map ) ) Quiet location, alright rooms, rooms, Quietlocation,alright isatSoffeh busterminal.

(Map (Map p234 ; Mp p234; (Map ) This quiet,modest-sized Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book x (traditional house) isthe(traditional house) x /fax x

ai (Map p233; (Map 222 1599; [email protected]; 222 1599;[email protected];

x /fax 220 4062; Chahar /fax 2204062;Chahar 442 5440;s/dUS$21/27; x 220 3881;saadi_hotel@ ) 223 7525; Masjed-e 223 7525;Masjed-e The family-run Mp p234; (Map x 668 6462;s/d x Hotel a (Map a 448 ) )

pa Blvd;s/dUS$34/43; A’inehKhuneh [email protected]; St; s/dwithbreakfast US$41/64; the viewsfromrooftop teahouse. fully lesspsychedelic tolookat.Don’tmiss résistence restaurantspinning basement the stylistsastheZohrehsame withthehead- Zohreh, tohave the theSafavi seems used bathtubs, andallhave ADSLinternet. more restrained andafairsize. Somehave there’s the Achaemenid motifs.Roomsare portraits of colourfullycladmaidens. Then gold paint,mouldedplaster, chandeliers and kitsch –thinklotsof odd-shapedmirrors, Zohreh isatemple toclassicPersian owners aparadoxically set modern-yet- and thechilled, interesting andartyfemale restoredpainstakingly traditionalhouse the Bazar-e Bozorg district, thecolourful, away offanarrow, vaultedin alleydeep Esfahan’s mostatmospherichotel. Hidden value. give theageing butcleanrooms.Excellent and anoverall friendlyfeel, youcanfor- balconies overlooking Bridge theSi-o-Seh nieh; s/tw/trwithbreakfast €35/60/75) AliAlley,Haru- 154 6964;www.dibaihouse.com; 1Masjed excellent value. top-floor restaurant (withviews)are both reported roomsand thethree-star standard readers several it wasfull.However, have aroombecause our attempts toactuallysee professionally refused all managed thatstaff the river Bridge, eastof Melal Si-o-Seh isso have squattoilets. are notbadinthispricerange. Bathrooms roomswithdouble-glazedbright windows from US$49/72; range place. Thesuite hasakitchenette. into areliable, ifnotexciting,lowermid- management hastransformedthisplace US$30/44/66; AbbasAbadSt;s/d/stewithbreakfast hantouristhotel.com; a BaghAbbasiSt;s/dwithbreakfast US$28/43; .biz; offChahar US$46/67/92/150; hotel.com; Ferdosi St;s/d/tr/stewithbreakfast Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book Iran Hotel Iran Hotel o Safavi Hotel Safavi Hotel Tourist Hotel Hotel Tourist Zohreh Hotel Hotel Zohreh Pol andPark Hotel Hotel Melal Melal Hotel ) Dibai House Not desperately charismatic, butthe ) Withhalfthe35roomssporting ! Roomsare modernandmerci- a a Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map ) ai ) Mp p234; (Map Helpful English-speaking Nearer to Imam Sqthanthe Mp p234; (Map

Mp p234; (Map ) x x Thenew,50-room x x pa 220 2740;www.iranhotel 222 4532-4; Kemal Esma’il 222 4532-4;Kemal x 220 8600;Felestin St;s/d 223 1060; www.zohre 223 1060;www.zohre h x x 220 4437;www.esfa Dibai House is Dibai House ) 220 9787,0912 667 4785-7;park_ Overlooking Overlooking pièce de helpful service. Khangostar Restaurant ( Restaurant Khangostar helpful service. p248 ) isdownstairs. metres fromVank Cathedral,with72smallroomsandun- NezamiSt;s/d US$28/43; .com; Hakim Central location, several languages,tired rooms.Central location,several Professionally runplacepopularwithbusinesspeople. Discounts verypossible;good,cheapfoodinthe restaurant. (US$77)varieties. tofive-bed intwo- apartments frills fax 2227831;Takhti aptfromUS$50; Junction; Julfa Hotel but largely of devoid character. fairvalue enough, tions: clean,comfortable Family rooms available. Discounts are available inthelowseason. rooftop restaurant insummer. isdelightful fridge make thisanexcellentchoice. The andimpressive roomswithsatellite TV Imam Sq,professional management and drawcard, soit’sworthbooking ahead. in Esfahan consideringit issuch a tourist There are surprisinglyfew top-endoptions TOP END Safir Hotel Hotel Pardis Apartment €10 lessinlowseason. Pricesare ontheright. inside thispassage, a tunnel-like passage. Thedoorisunsigned again,into left, take thefirst andright right along ontheleft,followthisaroundto the AliMosque,take thealleyabout10m minaretwalk southwesttowardsthetall at lowed. It’shardtofind:fromQeyamSq, ambience. Children under14are notal- uries –butwhatyou’re payingforisthe are outsideandthere are few modernlux- the 10roomsare overpriced –bathrooms traditional Iraniantone. Forpure facilities ste withbreakfast €32/45/160; St;s/d/ Alley,offHakim Ghalandarhra hotel.com; Bagh-e p234; Map .com; Shahid Medani St;s/d/steUS$63/87/95; Medani .com; Shahid Hakim Mosque. It’s about75meastof theentranceto wasveryhowever, rawwhenwestayed. make amemorable splurge. Theservice, bathrooms. Thestunningroyalsuite would andmosthavefortable modern attached homes. The16roomsare spacious,com- in adjoiningSafavid- andQajar-period aroundtwocourtyards tional hotel isset Bazar-e Bozorg area, thisattractive tradi- s/d US$63/90; The followingare ‘solid’fall-back op- Isfahan Traditional Hotel TraditionalHotel Isfahan Sadaf Hotel x Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map ai 223 6677,09133051556;www.isfahan CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan

Mp p234; (Map ) Asuperlocationnear x x Mp p234; (Map 624 4441;www.julfahotel 222 2640;www.safirhotel ai x (Hotel Sonnati Isfahan; (Hotel SonnatiIsfahan; 220 2988;Hafez St; pa ) x Deep inthe Deep 220 0308; ai ) Afew a ) No

247

) CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN or 6th-floor frontroom. ment toqualityluxuryhotel. Ask fora5th- transformed itfromstate-run disappoint- cluding wi-fi andakidsplayground,have exceptional restaurants andfacilities,in- professional management, arecent facelift, government owned.Mercifully, however, wall confirmthisone-timeSheraton isnow onthetollahs andKhamenei Khomeini Mikhak Restaurant Restaurant Mikhak RESTAURANTS food. ( that mostteahouses opposite ) also serve end hotels have restaurants, andremember MostmidrangeJolfa onenight. andtop- also worthventuring torelatively relaxed fromthehotels, it’s walking distance though Mostplaceslisted heredisappointment. are thenprepareculinary varietyyouseek, for and somememorable butifit’s teahouses, Esfahan hasitsfairshare of goodrestaurants Eating 248 the drab‘newwing’. have gardenviews.Anythingcheaper isin (US$179) are intheoriginalbuildingand Iran ‘special’rooms ians pay.Ifyoudostay, than ashah,andthepricesare doublewhat ice canleave youfeeling more like asheep luxurious norhistoriclooking),theserv- lime, mostof theroomsare plain(neither While thecentralgardencourtyardissub- canbemisleading. however, Reputations, reputation asoneof thebesthotels inIran. theAbbasicentury caravanserai, hasa IR15,000-50,000; day. Vegetarians shouldlookelsewhere. seems tocomfort halfof the seems qualityIranian comfortfoodthat serves northeast endof thebazaar,Mikhak pais St;s/dfromUS$110/165; Medani .abbasihotel.com; Shahid US$108/$158; 0230-39; www.hotelkowsar.com; Blvd;tw/d Mellat Bazar-e Bozorg;mealsIR20,000-35,000; Bazar-e and aroundImamSq. Abbasitionery shopsalongChaharBagh St much everywhere, butespecially inconfec- orothernuts.It’savailablepistachios pretty cious nougatusuallymixed withchopped Kowsar International Hotel Hotel Kowsar International Abbasi Hotel Esfahan’s famousspecialityis Aboozar Restaurant Restaurant Aboozar CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan pais ) h Intheremains of a17th-

Mp p234; (Map noon-4pm Sat-Thu) Mp p238; (Map Mp p238; (Map ) Portraits of Aya- x x Mp p234; (Map bazaris 222 6010;www 222 3291;meals h Just off the Just off x gaz, 11am-3pm) 222 0654; adeli- every every x 624

rest of theyear. the OldCity.Itopensindoors duringthe rooftop up)across views(whenyoustand consistently goodandcomplementsthe and theusualrange of kababs, tasty is ing steak(IR30,000), withmushroomsauce you caneatontherooftop. Thefood,includ- JuneandOctoberwhen mended between Hotel’s restaurant isespeciallyrecom- you’re here for. isn’tgreat, butthat’snotwhat and service and good, reasonably pricedst reliablyaround forever itserves because meals IR40,000; IR25,000-50,000; Banquet Hall;Map p238 ; or thebestfoodwillbegone. for fast,cheap meals.Arrive andtasty early The rest of the 8989; Hakim Nezami St , Nezami St, 8989; Hakim meals IR35,000; Bagh AbbasiSt;mealsIR20,000-35,000; usual Iranian-pizzalimitations. waitresses despite andpizzathat’stasty the café offers heavily made-up,crimson-clad popular underground pizzajoint–cum- only halfthedishesavailable. cheapish, notthatstylish,smallmenuwith middle-class Esfahanirestaurant, witha Kabir Hostel, thisplaceisaclassiclower oppositeDown themirrored Amir staircase Chahar BaghAbbasiSt;mealsIR25,000-45,000; Chahar meals IR30,000-45,000; 3pm &6-10pm) colourful tilesand glass, Imam Sq,thisrestaurant stained uses phere andreasonably priced Iranianfood. young Esfahanis withitsrelaxed atmos- Iranian placeappeals toupwardlymobile stairs. lah Mosque,turnleft,leftagain,and upthe find it,walkoutthesquare northof Lotfol- and reasonably pricedrecommendations. To stew)or eggplant someof thewell-prepared biryani and The foodmakes itmemorable,withEsfahani a Qajar-era touristy) ambience. (ifslightly Arabo o Sadaf Hotel Restoran-e Sa’di Restoran-e Nobahar Restaurant Nobahar Khorshid Khorshid Khangostar Restaurant Restaurant Khangostar zereshk polobamorgh o Sofreh Khaneh Sonnati Khaneh Sofreh Mp p234; (Map Mp p234; (Map khoresht-e bademjan h Nobahar Restaurant has been hasbeen Nobahar Restaurant h

h Mp p234; (Map dinner only for rooftop) dinner onlyforrooftop) Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book bazaris noon-3pm &7-10.30pm) 6.30-11.30pm) Mp p234; (Map takhts h x Jolfa; x x

noon-4pm &6-11pm) 624 7119; Kelisa St,Jolfa; 624 7119;Kelisa Mp p234; (Map 624 7536; Khorshid St,Jolfa; 624 7536;Khorshid 221 9068;ImamSq;meals seem tocomehere seem meals IR60,000; (daybeds)tocreate x Mp p234 ; (Map aples like kababs x . It’snotstylish 220 2988;Hafez St; h This modern 222 0237; Chahar 222 0237;Chahar 10.30am-11pm) x (aubergine The Sadaf (Traditional (Traditional h 221 0800; Just off Just off h x 11am- This noon- 627

& 6.30-10.30pm) Imam Sq;mealsIR45,000-80,000; sophy seriously, orjust likesophy seriously, thetaste of 3.30pm &7.30-10.30pm) lonelyplanet.com following places. compete forbusiness. where atmosphericlittleplaces several best inthestreets aroundVank Cathedral, Thesmallbutgrowingcaféscene is itself. also have afew options,butnot thesquare kababs. TheroadsleadingintoImam Sq burgers, icecream and,occasionally, real pizza,sandwiches, fast foodjoints,selling has thegreatest concentrationof Iranian AbbasiThe lowerendof Bagh Chahar St EATS QUICK you get there. Sizzler, buthey,youwon’tcomplainwhen abit bars seem might anddessert the salad Iranian. It’sbusyratherthanromantic,and and themenularge andvaried,butmainly enormous here, by Iranianstandards!) (even feedback canattest to t rience andov best foodinEsfahan–locals,ourownexpe- offers Restaurant probablythe Khangostar be good.Hopefullyitwillpickup. interesting-sounding to dishes anditused it carefully. It’sapity,asthemenuisfullof here, thebillingcanbeconfusingsocheck interesting-sounding dishes. Ifyoudoeat ent. Which isapity,asthemenufullof quality of lessconsist- thefoodhasbeen the complimentsend.Inrecent years the iswhere inEsfahan.That,however, taurant isthebest-located res-Mosque, theBastani meals IR25,000) 10.30pm) Abbas AbadSt;mealsIR50,000-70,000; 5pm) (and food)feels factoryproduced. packed withtourgroupsandtheservice notwithstanding. Toooften, it’s however, it’sexcellent–striplights on agoodnight, tion asthebestrestaurant And inEsfahan. work contribute totheShahrzad’s reputa- windowsandmirrorings, stained-glass place. justifiably busylittlekabab, riceandbread Kalleh Pache Kalleh For genuinely Iranian fastfood,trythe BastaniRestaurant Restaurant Shahrzad Restaurant Restoran-e Khayyam Restoran-e If youtake the‘whenin Rome’philo- TheopulentQajar-style wall-paint- Cheap, popular,very localand Intheshadowof theImam erwhelmingly positive reader

Mp p3 Bzre Bozorg; Bazar-e p234; (Map

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(Map (Map p234 ; NazarSt,Jolfa; Mp p238; (Map Mp p234; (Map his. Servings are his. Servings h 11.30am-4.30pm x x h 220 0374; 220 4490; 11.30am- h 7am- cially underthepylons. invariably aboisterous atmosphere, espe- do get honorarymaletreatment andit is cally maledominated, butforeign women boxed text, p243 istypi- ). Theteahouse the lastof thebridge hani institution(andit’snottouristy)and Bridgenorth endof isanEsfa- Si-o-Seh the square change inthelate afternoon. And especially whenthecolours andmoodsof soak upthisbeautiful ‘halfof theworld’, ing qalyan(IR10,000), istheperfect way to sipping tea (IR5000perperson) andpuff- St; Eslami Sq; biryani IR18,000; Sitting inanEsfahani TEAHOUSES &CAFÉS about 20malong. roof thestreet, andlookforthemen crosses HakimTurn eastoff Stwhere thebazaar brains,thenthistinyshopisforyou. sheep legislation. with naryacare formodernantismoking awayontheqalyancoming oldfellas puff tiny localplaceswhere grizzledbutwel- The bazaarisalsoagoodplacetodiscover theboxedfor centuries(see text, p243 ). is somethingEsfahanishave doing been ping fortea asyouwanderalongtheriver Shop is andstop- probably thehighlight, Iranian experience. Tea TheQeysarieh queue. place isafavourite of Esfahanis.Jointhe Esfahani specialityandthismodestlittle IR2000; lookforthered sign. for rice flour,milk,sugarandrose-water) a deliciousbowl(ortwo)of time of day)headforwhere youcanenjoy For anIranianbreakfast experience(atany h tables; IR9000). tables; reshte when youcantuckintothefamous afterattention 6pm, it’sworththeeffort singingtoget tostart awaiter’s need might andwhileyou hotel’s courtyard isadelight, puffing onaqalyan puffing sugarand sippingtea through house), o o Abbasi Hotel Teahouse Abbasi Hotel Beryani Azam Fereni Hafez h 8.30am-11pm) Qeysarieh TeaQeysarieh Shop Si-o-Seh Bridge Bridge Si-o-Seh 4-11pm) (noodlesoupwithbeansandvege- h 8am-11pm) The setting atthebackofThe setting the h CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan Mp p3 Hfz St; Hafez p234; (Map Sitting at the outdoor tables, Sitting attheoutdoortables, (Map (Map p234 BaghAbbasiSt; ; Chahar 9am-4pm Sat-Thu)

Thisteahouseatthe , isaquintessentially chaykhanehs

Mp p3 En p234 (Map (Map p234 ; Shahid Medani Medani Shahid p234; (Map Mp p3 Ia Sq; Imam p238; (Map chaykhaneh fereni h Biryani isan 8am-midnight) (made of ; see the; see qelab-e (tea- ash-e 249

CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN breakfast (IR20,000). buffet good fortea, or enjoya for it.Escapethetraffic the edges andvery local,andallthebetter around Sahelisabitrough Hotel, Bame ing tochat over a butmostare tactics, sales friendlyandwill- more information,see p64 . abouthis competitor.shop ownersays For don’t paytoomuch attention towhatone particularly fierce(andsometimes nasty), so with competitionamongthecarpet dealers Stores varybyprice,qualityandhonesty, store, andexpensive worksof artinthenext. cards andjunksouvenirs inone forsale literally full of shops.Youwillfindpost- arcades aroundImamSq(Map p238 ) are qalyans It’s justsippingandeatingbefore 6pm;the sipping tea andsmoking…ahm,hangon… grumpy menlinedupopposite each other junk hangingfromthewallsandceiling with anastonishingcollectionof teahouse- Sq, thisistheclassic old-styleteahouse, thenortheasternlane off cornerof Imam Abbasi St; directly to to shophere than inTehran. Forgold,head choice more and it’scertainly pleasurable thanelsewhere butthere’sbe higher more cate andlacquerware. metalwork Pricescan and are happy togive demonstrations),intri- (many of theartistsrunstores themselves pets, hand-painted miniatures oncamelbone handicrafts inIran.Thebestbuysare car- of Esfahan hasprobablythewidestselection Shopping basi St; Portal. totheleftof theQeysarieh staircase steep is often pretty quiet.Thetea shopisupa Teadespite itsposition,theQeysarieh Shop 250 thedral; ters, itfeels like aninner-city dive bar. terior, regular clientele andoddballcharac- oldest caféinEsfahanandwithitsdimin- p238; joyable as longasyouremember that you arm too much. It canactuallybe quite en- Teria Ani Some placesdo employ high-pressure The Bazar-e Bozorg (Map p234 ) andthe Bame Sahel Teahouse Bame Sahel Azadegan Teahouse Azadegan CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan x dizi h h h

221 1225;offImamSq; come outafter that. 7.30am-midnight) 9am-midnight) dinner (IR27,000).There’s alsoa 8.30am-1pm &4-9pmSat-Thu) (Map (Map p234 Alley,nearVank; Vank Ca- Kalisa Bazar-e Honar Bazar-e chay (Chaykhaneh-ye Azadegan; Map Map Azadegan; (Chaykhaneh-ye

withouttwisting your This isallegedly the (Map (Map p234 BaghAb- ; Chahar On thetopof Sahel

h Mp p3 Cha p234; (Map 7am-midnight) . har Bagh har Bagh In a selling, mainly tribal range of carpets and kilims. rangeofcarpetsandkilims. selling, mainlytribal ImamSq)Almost-comatoseapproach to [email protected]; Aladdin Carpets Aladdin Carpets readers: A Bargain, p392 ). stores What in several andbargain hard(see whatever you’re shoppingfor,check prices hrz R4,0 6perweek only, viaKerman Fri IR512,000 5perweek IR246,000 4perweek,viaShiraz 2perweek Wedonly,viaShiraz IR476,000 Zahedan several IR283,000 Tehran IR245,000 IR245,000 Shiraz Mashhad IR454,000 Bushehr daily Bandar Abbas Ahvaz The AIR &Away There Getting Shop Nomad Carpet Miniatures Fallahi don’t Kaveh; fares are for small commission. ( ternet Café p235 ) canbooktickets fora Kabir Hostel ( p246 ) andtheNegareh In- tively, accommodationsuch as theAmir the terminal before youdepart.Alterna- times it’seasiesttojustget yourtickets at p233 atthebusiest ) isinthesouth.Except likely whileSoffeh terminal touse; (Map busiest andistheterminal you’re most terminal (Map p233 ) inthenorthis Esfahan hastwomainbusterminals: Kaveh BUS Fallahi’s worksare excellent. Imam Sq)Charmingandinternationallyrenowned Hossein x nomad tours. salesmen,underwhelming range ofcarpets,experienced _shop@yahoo in Esfahan. ture times of whenyou first arrive buses town, it’sagood ideatoaskaboutdepar- or justVolvo. As there are in nobus offices etnto ae Frequency Destination Fare to KishandDubai. three timestoKuwaitCity.KishAirflies toDubaiand Air alsofliestwiceaweek offollowing table domestic Iran services; complex opposite theAbbasi the Hotel. See .iranair.com; Shahid Medani St) .iranair.com; Medani Shahid A few ImamSqshopsrecommended by See the following table forroutes thefollowingtable from See 222 4613); Iran Airoffice have .com; ImamSq)Smallshop,interesting SaadiSt to buy anything. Nevertheless, to buyanything.Nevertheless, Mp p238; (Map Shahid MedaniSt Shahid Mp p238; (Map Mp p238; (Map Mp p234; (Map mahmooly x isintheshopping 221 1461;aladd in x x x

lonelyplanet.com Mp p234; (Map 222 6733;off 221 9275;nomad /Volvo buses, /Volvo buses, 222 8200;www & 9-10pm evenings 21,000 9hr IR60,000 Kermanshah 55,000 IR12,000/ Kashan frequent 75,000 2½-3½hr Hamadan IR38,500 7.30am-10am 8hr very 14-16hr Bushehr IR30,000/ IR45,000/ 13-16hr Bandar Abbas frequent Duration Destination Fare Departures lonelyplanet.com ice toShahr-e Kord(IR15,000, 80minutes). about three times theprice,such astheserv- far more frequently but for thanminibuses from Takhtitaxi Junction(IR1500). get totheJey minibusterminal, take ashuttle (IR6000, 132km).To 138km) andArdestan also gotoNa’in(IR5000,three to four hours, Yazd (IR10,000,sixhours, 316km).Minibuses there are atleastfive departures each dayto (IR3000). Bridgewest fromjustsouthof theSi-o-Seh Rudterminal, take ashuttletaxi Zayandeh with departures hourorso. every Toget to Shahr-e Kord(IR5000,twohours, 107km), Rud terminal (Map p233 to ) has services are twominibus terminals. TheZayandeh For destinationsaroundEsfahanthere book MINIBUS &TAXI ahead terminal St. link thetwoterminals viaChaharBagh prowess. TheEsfahanMetro will(oneday) minibus orJey and IR30,000dependingonyourbargaining either terminalIR10,000 willcostbetween Bridge to (IR3000).Aprivate taxi Si-o-Seh get toSoffeh, take onefromjustsouthof the StforIR2500;to north alongChaharBagh 30,000 For theKaveh terminal, take ashuttletaxi IR90,000 Zahedan 50,000 7-10pm 16-19hr infrequent, Yazd IR12,500/ 38,000 Tehran IR26,500/ 4-5hr IR70,000 2-5pm 5-7hr 1-2pm 17hr very evenings Shiraz IR20,000/ frequent Sanandaj IR36,000 9hr 8hr 7-10am frequent Kaveh, evenings Orumiyeh IR95,000 18-20hr & 1-8pm IR95,000 Mashhad 17-19hr 8hr IR40,000 Iran Peyma Pars Peyma Savaris leave fromoutsidetheterminals From theJey minibusterminal (Map p233 ), 4-7pm (Soffeh) from the south end of Si-o-Seh Bridge.from thesouthendof Si-o-Seh ran. Alternatively, south take ashuttletaxi cost almostasmuch asthetrainticket toTeh- due todepart.Aprivate (IR45,000)can taxi stop wellover anhourbefore yourtrainis atthebus bus.Be you’ll beputontheright 4425; Enqelab-e EslamiSq; 4425; Enqelab-e St) x tional Hotel; askforthe catch Interna- abusfromoutsideKowsar way outtotheeastof thecity.Toget here, tively, the northeastsideof thesquare. Alterna- private taxi will cost about IR50,000. private willcostabout IR50,000. taxi toget need another toyourhotel. might A heading intothecity,fromwheretaxis you From theairport, askaroundforanyshuttle terminal (Map p233 totheairport. ) hasbuses Ahmad Abad Sqwhere thesmallSorush bus St fromTakhti the busat off Junction.Get ing eastalongJamal-od-Din Abdolrazagh Toget there, take anybushead- bus service. northeast of townandthere isnoairport MapThe airport(off p233 ) isabout25km TO/FROM THEAIRPORT town toKaveh is cheaper. from is headingsouthintotown.Getting passing ontheterminal side of theroad natively, take orbus–traffic ashuttle taxi thepricebeforeway, settle getting in.Alter- getlucky, youmight itforIR15,000.Either atthisandofferlaugh IR10,000.Ifyou’re for atriptocentralhotel, butyoushould cartel atKaveh terminal willaskIR30,000 or automobile, they’ll trytotake you.The someonefresh theplane,train off if theysee driverstaxi anywhere intheuniverse – else but inreality they’re notmuch than worse driversEsfahani taxi have abadreputation, Around Getting open in2010attheearliest. day andFriday).ThenewlinetoShiraz will IR66,100/41,700, 2.25pmMonday,Wednes- Abbasdaily) andBandar (six-berth/six-seat berth IR199,000/92,850,18½hours, 5.50pm Trains alsoruntoMashhad (Ghazal/six- leaves at11.30pmandstopsKashan. Tehran (six-berth IR35,15,7½hours) that There Esfahanand isadailytrainbetween TRAIN hasadedicated trainticket desk. The The 222 3010; [email protected]; Shahid Medani Medani Shahid 222 3010;[email protected]; Raja Trains ticket office Trainsticket Raja train station Iran Travel & Tourism Tour &Tourism Iran Travel CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan CENTRAL IRAN••Esfahan

(off Map (off Map h ‘istgah-e ghatah’ 8am-4pm Sat-Thu) p233 ; Mp p234 ; (Map x

668 8001) Mp p234; (Map x is on and and 251

222

is is CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN ask anywhere. Azadi Sq(forthesouthandwest);orjust Bridgethe southernendof and Si-o-Seh andShohadasein Sqs(forthenorth);and Sqs (foranywhere totheeast);ImamHos- QodsandAhmadAbadJunction, Laleh, direction fromthefollowingplaces:Takhti terminals, headingintheright lookfortaxis outlying destinationssuch asthetransport for aboutIR1000perkilometre orso. To frequent andaccommodation basic. Sum- people speak English,transport canbein- nitely thebeaten qualifiesas‘off track’.Few andQashqa’i. nomads, primarily Bakhtiari Persian, Lori,Kurdish and avastnumberof Gulf coast.Thepopulationismade upof northwestern IransoutheasttothePersian for 1500kmfromtheTurkishborder in valley stretch like agiant crocodile’sback the sharpfoldsof barren ridge andflowing the jaunt through where Mountains, Zagros opportunity, thenconsideranalternative Esfahan andShiraz soundslike a missed If theideaof adirect between busorflight MOUNTAINSTHE ZAGROS ESFAHAN TOSHIRAZVIA goes shuttle taxi thoroughfare, coupleof andevery a seconds Manar Jomban. theAteshkade way tosee IR20,000 andIR40,000,canbeagood foranhourcostsbetweena private taxi Tohirethey canspottouristsamileoff. driverstaxi hangingaroundImamSqas threatening tofindanotherone. Avoid the thatit’seasytonegotiatemany taxis by IR6000 toIR15,000.Luckilythere are so around innerEsfahancostsanythingfrom gotiating skills–afare inaprivate taxi –andyourne- Depending onthedistance TAXI the Kaveh andSoffeh busterminals (IR500). along theroutes. Onevery handybuslinks IR500 andyoubuybooksof tickets atbooths to thecorrect conveyance. RidescostIR200to ask atabusstopandyouwillsoonbepointed for oneheadingyourway.Elsewhere intown few minutes. Justask–andkeep asking– terminal, nearChehelSotunPalace, every leave andminibuses Buses thelocalbus BUS &MINIBUS 252 As atravelling experience, thistripdefi- Stisthecity’smain The longChaharBagh CENTRAL IRAN •• Esfahan toShirazviatheZagrosMountains CENTRALIRAN••Esfahan mostaghim h-ye Esfahanand (straight ahead) (straight r US$40; Jahangardi; the fancy. (IR50,000) andget outwherever takes your much easier totake asavari towards Yasuj ( late headsouthtoShiraz afternoon buses hours) at8am,returning after lunch. Inthe minibus departsforChelgerd (IR6000;two Azadi, southwestof theImamzadeh.One recommended.highly dizi cheap inIran,andserves original teahouses the bazaar,isoneof themostatmospheric, ( hammad mention them. the province’seven ownliterature doesn’t the areThe mainsights the postratherthanadestination. is astaging of provincetal ChaharMahal vaBakhtiyari ranges, capi- twomountain thesleepy ween (see p251 Nestledbet- fortransportdetails). The first legisfromEsfahanto Shahr-e Kord x Kord Shahr-e absolutely breathtaking. rare, welcomes are warmandthescenery snows often blockroads.Buttouristsare mers are mildbutduringwinter pleasantly cheaper places,but the There onweekdays. yourself are acoupleof and earlyMarch, andyou’lloften have itto late December the snowisskiablebetween ning upaslopeneartheKuhrang Tunnel; Ski Resorthasasingle800m-longT-bar run- peaks of justlessthan4000m.TheKuhrang for climbingsomeof themanysurrounding range andisalsotheideal base of theZagros Chelgerd isthehomeof skiinginthispart Chelgerd place to stay because theEnglish-speaking because place to stay is thegovernment-run butoverpricedmore Better than one night. zadeh, isnotthesortof placeyou’llstay unmarked inEnglish opposite theImam- 762 2301;[email protected]; rUS$50) the edge of town.The US$49/64; x mahmooly Transport radiates outfromtheTerminal-e For lodgings,thesuperbasic 0381 / pop 137,000 / elev 2061m0381 /pop137,000elev 225 4355;Ferdosi Sq; Imamzadeh Khatoon and kababswithits Shahr-e Kord Azadi Hotel KordAzadi Shahr-e pa pa ( x x /Volvo IR22,000/35,000),butit’s 222 1077; Dr Shariati St, north ofBasijSq; St,north 222 1077;DrShariati 0912 4553306;Valiasr St;twIR60,000) ) ; whilethebestavailable is ) , a taxi-ride upthehillat, ataxi-ride h , near the bazaar, but , nearthebazaar,but 8am-10pm) Hotel Kuhrang Hotel Shahr-e KordInn Shahr-e chay Atabakan Mosque Atabakan Ferdosi Soffrekhaneh

andqalyan ( lonelyplanet.com x , justwestof 333 0020;r/ste Hotel Mo- Hotel ﮐﺮﺩ

( x isthe ﭼﻠﮕﺮﺩ

(Hotel and and 0832- ﺷﻬﺮ ; it’s ,

.iransightseeing.com) line could have written specifically for been towns, butthisoft-repeated tothese been Great Persian have Rumimaynever poet fahan/blog-76174.html. www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/Es bicycle tripfromHamedan toEsfahan,see to cover them all. Toread abouta2006 andwedon’thave space theZagros through tion Esfahan office of the whole region. Alternatively, theguysin an absolute mineof informationaboutthe isand statesman-like manager MrRaisi lonelyplanet.com INTO THE DESERT INTO THEDESERT Sightseeing from can alsobearranged; MrRaeesi country skiing,trekking androckclimbing to Shiraz. andon (IR5000) runfrequently toSepidan savaris and you’llsoonhave aride. FromYasuj, aroundtheinformationofficebut stand lar transporttoPooladKaf fromSepidan, and climbingto3400m.There isnoregu- There are fourlifts,onebeing2100mlong ski slopeabout15kmuphillfromSepidan. the jumping-offpointforPooladKaf, a information office onthemainroad.It’s with rental accommodationandahandy isasortof alpineresortSepidan village pop 15,000 Sepidan first twohours ismostinteresting. rivers, youwon’tsoonforget thetrip.The valleyshostingfast-flowingand steep-sided villagestry. Windingthrough andgorges is oneof inthecoun- themostspectacular between ever Farsan and Yasuj, buttheroad There isnotouristinfrastructure whatso- Farsan toYasuj Amir Kabir Hostel ( p246 ). brothers theZiaee from contacted through little English isspoken, theyare usually equipment, transportandpermissions. As prove it;theycanarrange guides,insurance, of peaksandhave these photo albumsto language.’ touse thought I wonderwhy ever ‘A great silenceovercomes me,and There are, of otherroutes several course, Activities such riding,cross- ashorse (Map (Map p234 ; ShamsAbadiSt)

(IR15,000), buses andminibuses (IR15,000), buses

( x 0711-235 5939,09173132926;www

has hadgoodreports. Mountaineering Federa- Mountaineering have climbedmost

ﺳﭙﻴﺪﺍﻥ Iran

yahoo.com) ai hrab iwan century famousforits carpetsand10th- been and Mashhad. Theancienttownhaslong of roadtoTabasand thestart thedesert sit pointatthegeographical centre of Iran Slumbering x tran- Na’in isanimportant Na’in chay, the ancienttown, turies. Thatincludesaguidedwalkthrough will live life lived desert asit’sbeen forcen- actly whattheydo,butvisitors toToudeshk Road Followers).ex- It’shardtosummarise Yarane Jadeye (Heritage of Silk for aculturalheritage NGOcalledMiras-e stereotypes. can experiencethereal Irananddispelthe are eager towelcomeothers sotheytoo for years. AndnowMohammad andco hostingcyclists localshasbeen hospitable village of mud-brick buildings, cycling –fromEsfahan.Thisclassicdesert lagers at Toudeshk, 95km–oroneday’s ping inonMohammad Jalali andthevil- toNa’in,butit’swellworthstop- through Most peopletake abusorsavari straight x Toudeshk are springvillages. somesweet oases andamongthese environs existoases, unimaginable desolate silence. Withinthese isdeafening ness asthedesert initstotal, thatisasblindinginitswhite- andsalt sand like slowlydehydratingcamels,isamix of thatlaythemselves across Iran two deserts them. Dasht-e Kavi and asktoget atToudeshk. off orNa’in, minibus orsavari fromEsfahan itional houses Watch outalso fortherestoredserved. decoration, which isremarkably wellpre- Jalali Soundsgood?Contact night. tivity –free internet. AllthisforUS$8a ac- away. Oh,andthattraditionaldesert Wetland70km time, visitingtheGavkhuni desert-style, English-speaking Mohammad works If you’re notpedalling,take anybus, 0323 / pop 26,300 / elev 1557m0323 /pop26,300elev 0312

and is especially notable foritsfinemi- andisespeciallynotable and innovative of yetsimpleuse stucco bathing ( x CENTRAL IRAN •• Into the Desert CENTRAL IRAN••IntotheDesert Jameh Mosque fordetails. 0312-637 2586,09133654420;silkroadngo@ dotted aroundtown. Forlocal chay, hammam andifyou’ve gotmore chay,

r, thenorthernof the . This mosque has no . Thismosquehasno eatingalocalmeal, -style and sleeping -style andsleeping badgirs Mohammad ﺗﻮﺩﺷﮏ

and ﻧﺎﺋﻴﻦ trad- 253 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN Gholami eers shouldtrygood-value stop at Khur (IR20,000,fourhours). stop atKhur enroute toMashhad,4pm forbuses which SaidAli.ForGarmeh,waitheretan atabout a few hundred metres fromImamzadeh Sol- usuallystopattheroundabout hours). Buses Jey minibusterminal (IR7000,three to3½ There isalsoadirect minibusfromEsfahan’s hours) andYazd (1½totwohours) toNa’in. 138km, twohours), Kashan (2½tothree Coffee Shop .com) .com; perpersonIR220,000) Shahid Rajaie St;rUS$40; Rajaie Shahid amh Ateshoni village begins.Inthemidstof thisvillage is palms finishthe1600-year-old mud-brick out fromasmallspring,andwhere the More than25 varietiesof date palmspread thing you’dimagineanoasisvillage tobe. The tinyoasisvillage of Garmeh isevery- 857m two camels/elev x Garmeh (Imam Sq; Mohammadipour shop owner–cum–freelance guide outenthusiasticcomputer knowledge, seek 254 unfolded onthefloorof yourroom. the traditional style,with basicmattresses or gocamelriding. Accommodationisin deserts walk,visitthesalt mountain a desert lars youcanhike tohot-water springs, take chilling outinthequiet,forafew extradol- overwhelming silence. When you’re not cooking of Hadi andSarra)you caneat. ful dates, pomegranates andtheto-die-for includeallthefood(such aswonder-Rates oasis of thesoulinthis renovated their265-year-old homeintoan Maziar AleDavoud andhisfamilyhave on ornearImamSq,including west of ImamSq. apartment-stylerooms,150msouth- level Tourist Inn Tourist natively, thegovernment-run excellent a three-storey placeabove abakery. Alter- Imamzadeh; there’s noEnglish signbutit’s about 300meastof ImamSqtowardsthe There are options.Budget- twosleeping Regular buses run from Esfahan (IR5000, (IR5000, runfromEsfahan Regular buses Part of thebeautyof Garmehisitstotal, Food andinternet cafésare concentrated 0324 /pop–about260people& CENTRALIRAN••IntotheDesert , who will happily show you around. , whowillhappilyshowyouaround.

( ( x x h (Jahangardi Inn; (Jahangardi (Imam Sq; 225 2441,09132234667;rIR70,000) 443 2156,09132230874;www.ateshooni 11.30am-10pm)

( x 225 7930;greenmemoryna@yahoo h pa , where Tehrani artist 10am-8pm Sat-Thu) x oasis in the desert. oasis inthedesert. and 225 3088;fax3665; ) hasstylishsplit- Mosaferkhaneh Mosaferkhaneh Teria Torang Keliza Pizza Keliza Mahmood Mahmood . ﮔﺮﻣﻪ Na’in ,

summer itgets ridiculouslyhot. atanytimeofcan stay year,butduring book ahead,especiallyforweekends. You there –askHadi forallthedetails.’ ifyouwanttostay stopatKharanaq, These Wednesday at7am,andFriday3pm. Yazd route onSundayand viathedesert from Na’in.There are direct also buses to Na’in andEsfahanat1pm;linktoYazd a lifttoKhur. Fromthere, adailybusto for someonetocollectyou. trip. Ifyoucallahead,Ateshoni willarrange iar’ to drive yououttoGarmeh.Justsay you willprobably beabletofindsomeone driver place). willdropyouattheright the bigroundabout justoutsidetown(the at and connectwiththebusfromEsfahan day. Onotherdays,take anybustoNa’in urday andMonday,3pmonThurs- so arrive atinconvenient times). Mashhad usuallyleave these (though later oryoucouldget onanybusto for Khur, abusleavesFrom Esfahan, dailyat1pm call Ateshoni toarrange tobemetinKhur. of about10hours later; themstopatKhur 2.30pmand5pm.All between for Birjand dayTerminal-eand 10)departevery Jonub stopsinKhur.bus toBirjand Sunday andWednesday.Onotherdays,the Terminal-e (14hours) on JonubtoKhur 4pm. FromTehran, comedirect buses from thebusinNa’inatabout road. Ormeet the northof GarmehontheNa’intoTabas 38kmto fahan take the1pmbustoKhur, toGarmehisnoteasy.FromEs- Getting THERE&AWAYGETTING aa earthquake in1978thatkilled 26,000. the town famouswasflattened byamassive most of architecture the evocative thatmade But contrast tothesurroundingsands. stark gardens invividly painted colours are in hub. Tabas’s palm-linedroadsand public and,assuch, isanimportant two vastdeserts oasis townof Tabas isthelargest inIran’s Once knownasthejewelof the thedesert, x Tabas Ateshoni’s popularitymeansyoushould Leaving Garmeh, you’llfirst toget need Leaving isprettyKhur at 9.30pm quiet, but even A busleaves Yazd at7amSat- forKhur From Tehran, five (Taavonis orsixbuses 8 0353 / pop 35,000 / elev 678m 0353 /pop35,000elev . Expect topayabout IR30,000forthe . Expect lonelyplanet.com ‘Maz- ﻃﺒﺲ in Tehran perpersoninclfood€45) [email protected]; about IR60,000). only (uberbasic)budget roomsintown(for foodinlargetasty portionsandoffers the 300,000; century citadel, the century citadel, The gardeniswellsigned.ruined11th- mainly topeoplewhodon’tlike animals. the smallcages of localfaunawillappeal its lushvarietyof tropicalplants,though a look. (Imam Khomeini Sq) (Imam Khomeini lonelyplanet.com chards of pomegranate, walnutand almond sided valleys, fast-flowing streams and or- andEnglish. speaks Italian feels sophisticated buthomely.Noushin style bricks, therichly decorated contemporary- thanmud- Garmeh orToudeshk.Rather to visitors. two modernhomesandhasopened them north, architect Noushin Ghiassihasbuilt garden village Olia15km of Baghestan-e Ferdows isof littleinterest really, butinthe to thenorth and eastbyrockymountains. largish townattheedge of flanked thedesert Two hours’ drive eastof Tabas isFerdows, a x Olia Baghestan-e also fromnearthe‘terminal’. (IR40,000,twohours),two hours) andKhur Musa. Savaris runtoFerdows (IR40,000, Nebn nal besidetheImamzadehHossein circle–cum–bustermi- time atthetraffic Trytochecknight). departures aheadof from8pmtomid- nine to10hours, several IR15,000, three hours); Esfahan(IR60,000, 10 hours, 521km)viaFerdows (IR8000to at about11.30pm;Mashhad (IR45,000, ing toYazd hours, (IR38,000,eight 419km) ices are going toorfromMashhad, includ- Tabas isnotexactlyabushub.Mostserv- THERE&AWAYGETTING pleasant rooms. pleasant to town),hasancient,overpriced andun- (atthenorthernentrance NebnMusa sein from theenormousnewImamzadeh Hos- taurant Khatam taurant Khatam Today the highlight isthe Today thehighlight Hotel Bahman Hotel The surrounding hillsare home tosteep- differentThe experienceistotally to Imam Khomeini Sqishometothe Imam Khomeini 0534 / pop – not many / elev 1594m 0534 /pop–notmanyelev Moonlight House pa ) , onthestreet leadingeast ( , withwater surging through h

( x 7am-midnight) Arg-e Tabas Arg-e

( 422 5951;tw/aptIR150,000/ x 223 3096,09123145200; , which serves , which serves Bagh-e Golshan Bagh-e , isalsoworth ﺍﻭﻟﻴﺎ

ﺑﺎﻏﺴﺘﺎﻥ Res- With itswindinglanes,forest of x YAZD IR170,000 –Noushincanarrange it. costsabout from where service ataxi TehranAir fliesdailybetween andBirjand, Alternatively,easier, thentake ataxi. Iran Tabas toFerdows (IR40,000,twohours) is to Mashhad Asavari from passlate atnight. enroute last 5km.Frompointswest,buses opposite here taxis estan; will take youthe dropped atthepolicecheck pointinBagh- en route andYazd. toEsfahan Ask tobe hours) about6pmand10pm passbetween delicious. and oncarpets,thefoodisabsolutely amaximumofsleep 15people,inbeds andaneighbour’s home House Moonlight asNoushin isnotalwaysthere.essential boxed text, p256 ). Advance bookingsare to villages such the astinyKoreshk (see walks withaguideorjustmap,andtrips andfull-day arrange reasonably pricedhalf- with thesmellof exoticherbs.Noushincan April andJuly,whenthevalleysare filled that are green about spectacularly between but nothumid. cold inwinter and isboilinghotin summer, the boxed(see text, p261 ). Yazd can bequite to Iran’slargest population of Zoroastrians especially intheolder parts.Itisalsohome like Qom, Yazd town, isafairlyconservative itional hotels beganopening.Whilenothing booming sincethetrad- ined thathasbeen grander scalethanPolowouldhave imag- industry,itis tourismonafar important Andwhileweavingthrough. remains an other fabricssincebefore Marco Polopassed evocative villagesevocative andtowns. fordaytripstoseveral also anidealbase apieceofthat isitself Yazd’s history.It’s imagination), before returning toahotel maze of historicstreets andlanes(andyour It isaplacetowanderandget lostinthe itisatleastasenchanting. with thedesert, whole, andinthecontext of itsrelationship ofsights Esfahan or Persepolis, butasa haveDasht-e Lut,itdoesn’t thebig-ticket the northernDasht-eKavir andsouthern oflights anytriptoIran. Wedged between commodation, Yazd isoneof thehigh- mud-brick oldtownandcharismatic ac- From Mashhad, (IR25,000,four buses Yazd knownforitssilksand hasbeen 0351 / pop 533,000 / elev 1213m 0351 /pop533,000elev CENTRAL IRAN••Yazd badgirs 255 ﻳﺰﺩ

, CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN heshti Sq. Within this grid, however, lies the lies the heshti Sq. Withinthisgrid, however, southwest grid,thecentre of which isBe- Yazd islaidoutonavery northeast– loose Orientation extended therailwaylinetoYazd. than aprovincial outpost untilthelastshah were defeated and remained littlemore Yazd fell intodeclinewhenthe Safavids home-grown industry.Like mostof Iran, silk, textile andcarpet productionthemain ished inthe14thand15thcenturies, with andTamerlane, Khan Genghis andflour- of commerce’.Itwasspared destructionby ‘a very fineandsplendidcityacentre in the13thcentury,hedescribedYazd as M reason. When into real politicalpowerisprobablyanother reallycommercial prosperitynever translated to explainingYazd’s The factthat longevity. a tendency towardsdiplomacygosomeway tradingroutesIts positiononimportant and continually inhabited forabout7000years. thesiteify, butitiswidelybelieved hasbeen claimtover- beadifficult Thismight Earth’. Yazd tobethe‘oldestlivingcityon issaid History 256 be notmore thanfouryearsolder. Butthen,itishardtofindahusbandhere…’ older. ButIdon’twantthat.tobe20or25whengetmarried,andmyhusbandshould married whenshewas13!Andhadherfirstbaby14!Myfatherisseven years Tehran. togobuttheparents I’dlike won’tallowmetoleave untilIgetmarried.Mymotherwas all thetimesoIdon’tseemuchtraffic,butwedovisitQom. better. Mybrotherlives inTehran tovisithim.WhenI’mthere andIlike Iamwithmybrother enough, theyaskus. That’s howitworkshere. together. Whenwedon’thave enoughbread weasktheneighbours,andwhentheydon’t have sohard!Everyonethey are alwayslooking inthevillage isrelated somehowandweallwork Allthegirls carpethave whomake togeteyeglasseswhenthey’reimportant. youngbecause I don’tknowwhichones. it,butit’s Oh,andcarpetweaving!It’shardwork!Andwedon’tlike CENTRALIRAN••Yazd There are nojobshere somostoftheyoungpeopleleave forthecity,eithertoGonabador thevillage,butitgetsveryI like coldandicyhere inwinter. Definitely, inwinter thecityis We alsogrowrosesandsellthepetalstobeusedinrosewater andinmedicines,though arco Polo passed thiswayarco Polopassed night wewere upat2amtochangethewater channels. and almonds. Everyone workshere andwedaughters helpallthetime. Last this village. We’re inthemountainsandmost peoplefarmforfruit,walnuts and twobrothers–forsomereason there are alwaysmore girls thanboysin here, in20families. Iamtheyoungestinmyfamilyandhave three sisters ‘Koreshk isavery smallvillageandthere are onlyabout50peopleliving Kavir at theedgeofDasht-e Lives in: Age: VOICES OFIRAN:ZOHREHZAMBE 15 Koreshk, Province, SouthKhorasan are Sq. about2.5kmsouthwestof Beheshti andbusterminal city whilethetrainstation where thebazaarfansout. byQeyamSt,from heshti Sq.It’scrossed main street, runningnortheastfromBe- Stisthetown onfoot.ImamKhomeini toexplorecity andit’seasyenough the theminarets ofcan see theJameh Mosque. tions ororientyourself byclimbinguntilyou when youwanttoget out,justaskfordirec- get lostwhenwalkingaroundtheoldcity– and covered walkwaysandbazaars. to Expect mud-brick oldcity,awarren of to either CD orDVD. Both of thefollowingplacescanburn photos ACCESSINTERNET police Tourist Police headquarters Dr Hospital Mogibiyan EMERGENCY Information urgent problems. Heidarzadeh CoinMuseum. Heidarzadeh The airportisonthewestern fringe of the Most of thehotels listed are intheold ( x 621 4444; ( x ( x 110; Azadi Sq) 110; Azadi 624 0061; Kashani St)For 624 0061;Kashani h 24hr) Oppositethe lonelyplanet.com kuches (lanes) (lanes) Ex change isupstairs. and internationalphonecards. internetaccess DVDsandthesaleofpre-paid calls, writing here includeinternational convenient, buttheservices per hrIR6000; Issatis.net to please. h Internet Friendly lonelyplanet.com US$25 per person for a half-day, US$75 US$25 per person fora half-day, Other options includecamel tours (about which isimpossibleonpublic transport. people, US$55with breakfast andlunch), Meybod loop(about US$40 forthree orless Chak– mon touristheKharanaq–Chak have recommended. been Themostcom- where inYazd province, andfurther, toursThe followingcanlead toalmostany- independent guide canbemore rewarding. Most hotels canarrange tours butusingan TOURS informationoffice Tourist TOURIST INFORMATION Shohada Telephone Office office telephone Main Far Telephone AwayInternational TELEPHONE Post office ing toturnyourrugintoaflyingcarpet. It’s outoftownbutyou’llhavetocomehere ifyou’re look- postoffice Main POST Yazd Exchange Bank Tejarat Branch Central Bank Melli US$2 onexchanges. inYazdBanks take acommissionof about MONEY Chamran24-hourPharmacy MEDICAL SERVICES There should usually be an English-speaker there. There shouldusuallybeanEnglish-speaker A few mapsandbrochures, butmainlyaboutsellingtours. caravansalar.ir; ZiaeeSq; andcansafely store luggage. office attheairport them andthey’lldeliverthecashtoyourhotel.Alsohasan these guyshaveagoodreputation forthebestrates;call St; Kashani h St; callsperminIR2500; 9am-1pm & 5-10pm) ‘Is everything alright?’ Eager alright?’ 9am-1pm &5-10pm)‘Iseverything 8am-10pm Sat-Thu, 8am-2pm&5-10pmFri) h ( (Imam Khomeini St) Near Bank Melli. St)NearBankMelli. (Imam Khomeini x h (Qeyam St)Alsoupstairs. 8am-10pm) Opposite the Ateshkadeh, 8am-10pm) OppositetheAteshkadeh, ( 623 1425; www.issatis.net; Kashani St; 623 1425;www.issatis.net; Kashani x 9am-1.30pm &5-9.30pmThu)Notso (Ghasem AbadSt; (Masjed-e JamehSt;perhrIR8000; (Masjed-e 624 7220;www.yazdexchange.com; h h (Motahhari St) (Motahhari 9am-1pm &4-10pm) 9am-6pm, to8pmsummer) ( (Shohada Crossroads) (Amir Chakhmaq Sq; (Amir Chakhmaq x ( x 621 6542-5;info@ 626 6900;Farrokhi St) h (Imam Khomeini (Imam Khomeini 7.30am-2pm) hotel discounts. provinces(includingBavanat),andcanarrange Esfahan excellent English,leadstoursinYazd, Fars Kerman, and Young,highlyorganisedMohsenspeaks yahoo.com) and ask about the desert guide. and askaboutthedesert emailorcallforoptions trekking; mainly involvingdesert options, ofreasonably priced tours. There are allsorts Ecotours, afledglinggroupofYazdis runningmainlydesert yahoo.com) everything heknows…andabitmore. everything could talkunderwetcement,sorest assured he’lltellyou has beenguidingforyearsandisastraight-shooter. He tickets. The followingare goodforplaneandtrain TRAVEL AGENCIES Lorian Keykhosro Mohsen Hajisaeed Jaladat Massoud Hossain Bagharian Road Travel ( p258 tours.) alsorunsthese person). Oldcitytours are alsopopular. Silk aboutUS$20per (one dayandonenight fewer thanfive walks people)anddesert overnight, more of forgroupscomprised trian community. trian whohasexcellentaccesstotheZoroas- driver Zoroastrian isanEnglish-speaking MrLorian [email protected]) beneath one. below. Toappreciate theeffect, juststand lightest breeze anddirect ittotherooms conditioning are designedtocatcheven the ers). These ancientsystems ofnaturalair- the while notquite ascoldmodern air-con, house throughadifferent shaft.Genius!And lar path,redirected upwards andoutofthe air, whilethewarmaircontinuesitscircu- a poolofcoolwater, thereby coolingthe rents thatenter thehouseoften dosoabove of thewind;androofcovering. The cur- the house;flapstoredirect thecirculation some ofthehotairandstopitentering shafts; airshelves thatare usedtocatch thebodyortrunkthatcontains parts: all butthesimplestconsistofatleastfour versions toelaborate six-sided modelsand forest of immediately whythecity’sroofscape is a Any summervisitortoYazd willunderstand YAZD OF BADGIRS THE Badgirs badgir

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257 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN well organised. valueandpendent travellers. Reasonable andlongerthatare aimedatinde- Hotel; hasdaytrips JamehSt)LocatedintheOrient .ir; 6thAlley,offMasjed-e Silk Road Travel Silk RoadTravel &TourAgency Travel Saadat Seyr 258 h [email protected]; 21/1Imamzadeh-yeJa’farSt; Shiraz (438km) To Airport(4km); Ghom; Tehran To Kashan; Enqelab-e Qom (517km);Tehran(642km) Esfahan (310km);Kashan(414km); Chak (72km);Kharanaq(85km) To Meybod(57km);Ardakan(60km); 4 1 3 2 5 YAZD Eslami Sq Shahrivar Blvd 7.30am-8pm Sat-Thu, 9am-noonFri) CENTRALIRAN••Yazd Homafer Jadde-ye Taft 48 Sq To Shiraz (438km)

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To Abuzar 22 Dahe-ye Fajr Blvd Fajr Dahe-ye brown skylineisdominated bytall sun-dried mudbricks,andtheresulting intheoldcityismadefromeverything feel fortheregion’s rich history.Justabout Unesco, andistheperfect placetoget a the oldesttownsonearth,accordingto Yazd’svery oldphoenix. oldcityisoneof emerges –a like fromthedesert aphoenix brown labyrinthof lanes,the More Time, ( Please p395 ) fordetails. 30-dayextensions, however.promise See the placetodeposityourcash.Theydon’t Melliday) andtheBank Branch is Central sions (open7amtonoonSaturdayThurs- the TouristPoliceoffice dealswithexten- bus backtoYazd. Ifyoucan’tavoid Yazd, travelling companionwasputonthefirst Yazd andmy guysdeniedeverything, visa (my guiltwasapparently byassociation),the the twoof uswere arrested subsequently if youhave anyproblem‘justcallus’.When if hecouldleave town.Ofcourse,theysaid, sixdaysafter hesubmittedstamped it,asked guy who,whenhispassportstillhadn’tbeen Wetravelleda week. withoneunfortunate lonelyplanet.com of walls,which shieldthehouses thehigh quarters because appearalmostdeserted ofThe Badgirs Yazd, p257 ). Theresidential theboxed rooftopon almostevery (see text With its CITY OLD Sights Temple)...... Amir ChakhmaqMosque...... Amir ChakhmaqComplex...... Alexander's Prison...... Yazd Exchange...... (see7) Tourist Police...... Tourist InformationOffice...... Silk RoadTravel...... (see38) Shohada TelephoneOffice...... Saadat SeyrTravel&Tour...... Public Toilets...... (see16) Post Office...... Police Headquarters...... Main TelephoneOffice...... Main PostOffice...... Issatisnet...... Friendly Internet...... Far AwayInternationalTelephone.. Dr MogibiyanHospital...... Chamran 24-hourPharmacy...... Bank Tejarat...... Bank Melli(CentralBranch)...... Ateshkadeh (ZoroastrianFire INFORMATION SIGHTS &ACTIVITIES badgirs pokingoutof abaked- 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1 6 9 8 7 D3 C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 B3 B2 C5 D3 C2 C2 D4 C3 C2 C2 old city Hotel...... Moshir Caravanserai Yazd Mehr TraditionalHotel...... Malek-o Tojjar...... Laleh Hotel...... Kohan Hotel...... Hotel MamalakMoshir...... Hotel AmirChakhmagh...... Dad Hotel...... Beheshty Hotel...... Aria Hotel...... Yazd WaterMuseum...... Tomb ofthe12Imams...... (see16) Zurkhaneh...... Saheb AZamanClub Studio)...... (see16) Moslem Mirzazadeh(SitarShop& Khan-e Lari...... Jameh Mosque...... Hosseinieh (usuallyclosed)...... Fortress ofLions...... Roknaddin...... Bogheh-ye Sayyed Bagh-e DolatAbad...... SLEEPING ﻗﺪﻳﻢ of Yazd badgirs

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part of the Zarch part of theZarch mosque there leadingdownto isastairwell earlier fire temple. Inthecourtyardof the tohavebuilding believed replaced itself an century, it’sonthesite of a12th-century are particularlystunning. the mainwestern entrancetothecourtyard Masjed-e JamehSt) Masjed-e ae oqe The magnificent Jameh Mosque of brown expanses thedesert. for fineviewsover Yazd andintothevast get totherooftops yourself atsomepoint the mazewhenyouare sure ready. to Be less children whowillhelpleadyououtof meantime you’llbediscovered bycount- and somelovely adobearchitecture. Inthe simple courtyards,ornate woodendoors wander around;you’lldoubtlessdiscover that crisscross thetown. from thenarrowandlabyrinthine the roof, usuallyinthelate afternoon. ( Internet Café p256 ) canarrange accessto will allowyoudown.TheguysatFriendly ritual ablutions.Forasmalltip,thecaretaker the domeandmihrab the 15thcentury.Thee rets andadornedwithaninscriptionfrom flanked mina- bytwomagnificent48m-high isoneof inIran, entrance portal thetallest Built for Sayyed Roknaddin in the 15th Built forSayyedRoknaddininthe15th Follow thewalkingtour( p262 ) orjust 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 C2 C2 C3 C2 A1 C2 C3 C3 C3 C2 C2 C2 C1 C2 C2 D1 C2 B2 dominates the old city. Its tiled dominates theoldcity.Itstiled Iran AirOffice...... Kermanshah...... Buses toMehdiAbadfor Zein-o-din& Bus Terminal...... Yazd TraditionalCookie...... Sito CoffeeShop&Pizza...... (see18) Silk RoadHotelRestaurant.....(see40) Pizza GoleSorkh...... Nemoner Sandwich...... Restaurant...... Mozaffar Traditional Marco PoloRestaurant...... (see38) Malek-o Tojjarr...... (see35) (Chaykhaneh-yeSan'ati)...... Hammam-e KhanRestaurant Restaurant...... Amiran Paludeh...... Yazd TraditionalHotel...... (see31) Soroush Guesthouse...... Silk RoadHotel...... Rose TraditionalHotel...... Orient Hotel...... EATING TRANSPORT CENTRAL IRAN••Yadz Jameh Mosque , , used these days for daysfor these used and thetilesabove xquisite mosaics on on xquisite mosaics

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B2 C3 B4 A1 A1 D2 B3 C2 C3 C3 D3 C2 C3 C2 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN h matter whatyourguide tells you. Recently doubtful, no as adungeon seems and used was infactbuilt byAlexandertheGreat well inthemiddleofdeep itscourtyard place inaHafeztardly Whetherthe poem. ofcause areference tothisapparently das- Fri) for directions. thewalkingtour( Sq;see west of Zaiee p262 ) and culturalheritage officers. It’ssignposted and it’snowhometoarchitecture students merchant family whobuiltithave longgone, out asoneof thecity’sgrandesthomes.The dows, elegantarchways andalcoves markit badgirs, Qajar-erapreserved inYazd. houses The JamehSt; Masjed-e h knock shouldbringthecaretaker. impressive. Thedooris often buta closed interior stucco andotherdecorationremains butthedeteriorating ago, thedomeisnotable pointinthecity.Built700years any elevated Roknaddin Mohammed Qazi,isvisiblefrom as This 15th-centurydomedschool isknown Prison Alexander’s The 150-year-old Lari Khan-e ye SayyedRoknaddin The beautifulblue-tileddomeof the Bogheh-ye SayyedRoknaddin 260 , the tombof local Chakhmaq Sq;admissionIR10,000; Chakhmaq picking upredundancy chequesformanyyearsyet. picking still rely andwell-paid onqanatsforwater, thehighlyskilled – are andMahan Andashundreds stillvery oftownsandvillages–includingBam,Kashan important. priority, nowtake modern irrigationprojects For atleast2000yearsIranianshave beendigging THE QANAT a every oftheiruseandmaintenance. aspect Iranisthoughttohave more than50,000 allow ventilation. a Becauseofthehazardsandexpenseconstructing are thetopofwells,dugtodisposeexcavatedsoil you’llseeinlonglinesacrossthedesert soiland along, sothewater canflowacrossanextremely shallowgradienttoitsdestination.The moundsof must behigherthanthefinaldestination.Then youdigatunneljustwideandtallenoughtocrawl This sourcecouldbemore than100mdeep,butasthewholesystem isreliant ongravitythesource crops and supply drinking water.crops andsupplydrinking Tobuilda 7am-6pm, to8pmsummer) 8am-sunset, 8am-1pm&4pm-sunsetsummer) Alexander’s Prison Alexander’s Prison CENTRALIRAN••Yadz qanat For thelowdownon traditionaldoors, win- stained-glass ortwounderneath.The displaysare clearandmostlyinEnglish. h 8am-1pm &4-8pmSat-Thu, 10am-noon (Mausolem of Sayyed Roknaddin; off ofSayyedRoknaddin;off (Mausolem Khan-e Lari Lari Khan-e (Zaiee Sq;admissionIR2000; Islamic notable Sayyed Islamic notable Sayyed isoneof thebest- , ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ h (admission IR2000; (admission IR2000; headfortheimpressive

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ﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﻪ tak- AZamanClubZurkhanehSaheb sionate commemorations. of theShiites’ pas- piece fortheobservance lonelyplanet.com AHEDLTAA Zand, Khan Once aresidence of Persian regent Karim BAGH-E DOLAT ABAD Sq isthe Just off thenorthsideof AmirChakhmaq see ( see p52 ). an interesting windowonIranianculture; hour-long are workoutsintheZurkhaneh voir stored water formuch of thetown.The crowned withfive burly fromtheinside,and egg standing 29m-high built about 1580.Lookinglike a ervoir) is insideacavernous quite amazingstructure. Themodern club brand of it’sa bodybuildingandbecause bothforitsIranian which isworthseeing mission IR10,000; h are believed tohave beenZoroastrianmagi, hence theAdorationofMagi. and asMagism fromthe name ofitsancientpriests,themagi. The Three WiseMenoftheBible hejablawsgoverningbut dofollowthestrict women’sdress. embroidered dresses withpredominant coloursofwhite, cream orred. They never wearchadors, dled toabout5500.Zoroastrianwomen canberecognised and bytheirpatterned headscarves deed, andthesemi-longtailinfrontrepresents VohuMano,whiletherear tail is AhemNano. and wisdom,thethree layersoffeathers onthewingssymbolisepurityofthought,wordand of thespiritthatreaches AhuraMazdaafterthe part death.The oldmansymbolisesexperience are usuallyburiedingraves linedwithconcrete toprevent ‘contamination’oftheearth. silence’, where theirboneswere sooncleanedupbythevultures. Nowadays,deceasedZoroastrians orcrematethe earth) them(pollutes theatmosphere). Instead, thedeadwere exposedin‘towersof ‘minds’ coexisted withinthesupreme being,AhuraMazda,andinalllivingthings. whichwereNano (BadMind), responsible fordayandnight,life anddeath.These twoopposing battle ofgoodandevil.Zoroaster believed andAhem intwoprinciples–VohuMano(GoodMind) referred toastheZoroastrianbible)are attributed tohim.The core lessonisdualism:theeternal was fire, sotheycreated fire temples the flameburningeternally. tokeep thatfollowerspraytohiminthedirectionasked oflight.The onlylighttheancientscontrolled an omnipotent, invisiblegod.The supreme being,AhuraMazda,hasnosymboloricon,buthe inCentral Asia issure.north –no-one Zoroastrianismwasoneofthefirstreligions topostulate ably bornbetween1000BCand1500BC,possiblynearpresent-day Urimiyehorfurther Lake Islam tothefore. Zoroastriansare orZarathustra),whowasprob- followersofZoroaster (Zartosht wasthemainreligion acrosstheIranianplateau untiltheArabConquestbrought ZOROASTRIANISM 7.30am-5pm, to6pmsummer) Zoroastrianism isalso knownasMazdaismfromthename ofitssupreme god,AhuraMazda, the150,000or moreOf Zoroastriansintheworld,number and aroundYazd hasdwin- Many Zoroastriantemples are adornedwithbas-relief wingedfigures thatsymboliseFravahar, Since Zoroastriansbelieve inthepurityofelements,theyrefuse toburytheirdead(pollutes Very littleofwhatZoroaster thoughtheteachings wrote intheAvesta hassurvived, (sometimes Saheb A Zaman Club Zurkhaneh AZamanClubZurkhaneh Saheb Bagh-e DolatAbad Bagh-e h workouts 5pm&8.30pmSat-Thu) ﺍﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ badgirs, wasbuiltabout

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tskdh this to see Zoroastrians comefromaroundtheworld Ateshkadeh ( Zoroastrian communityinIran;see below ). Yazd ishometothelargest andmostactive ZOROASTRIAN SITES renowned for having Iran’sloftiest and exquisite stained-glass windows.It’salso pavilion issuperb,withintricate latticework amid quietgardens.Theinterior of the 1750 andconsistsof asmallpavilion set appointment) entrance you can see the Fravahar symbol. theFravahar symbol. entrance youcansee 1474 andtoitspresent site in1940.Above the ferred toArdakanin1174,thenYazd in from theentrancehall,flamewastrans- awindow about AD470.Visiblethrough Fire Temple, tohave said burningsince been end of Shahid St. Raja’i entrance canbereached fromthewestern rebuilt inthe1960s.The after itcollapsed overstanding thisonewas 33m,though , often referred toastheZoroastrian Ateshkadeh CENTRAL IRAN••Yadz

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ﺍﻣﺎﮐﻦ 261 by by

CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN at the you’re If p260). Mosque view,orcontinueintothe a spectacular water reservoir water wheresmall laneleads off totheright, a northeast. After about250monFazel Sta (eastern)the right sideandkeep heading on an openspacewithaplayground. Stay open ceilings.Turnlefthere andyou’llreach arches and 75m toajunctionwithseveral forabout thenleft,andkeep straight right, the northeastern door(nearthe irs pass the Kohan Hotel. Stay straight another another pass the Kohan straight Hotel. Stay left (northeast), parallelto Fazel St, andyou’ll trian eternal flame. Itisalsousuallyclosed. (Ghal’eh-ye Asadan) anotherZoroas- houses In thenortheastof Yazd, the your bestbetisaZoroastrianguide( p257 ). work gate inasidealley,butifthatdoesn’t often notaround.Tryknockingatthe small Yazd Museum Water atthe Start Tour LostInYazd Walking Get Zoroastrian irs, well, awater cistern andtwosmall Zoroastrian buildings,includingadefunct foot of thehillsare otherdisused several ers have sincethe’60s.At used notbeen tures couldpickthebonesclean.Such tow- uncoveredthese stonetowers sothatvul- dead bodieswere notburiedbutleftin trian beliefsaboutthepurityof theearth, InaccordancewithZoroas- Zartoshtiyun). Zoroastrian southern outskirtsof Yazd are theevocative ontwolonely, barren hilltopsonthe Set Towers ofSilence 262 quoise-domed quoise-domed of thestunningportal thetur-the righttosee the imposingmosque,turndownalaneto left upMasjed-e Jameh youreach St.Before Mosque and check outthenearby Zartoshtiyun. Dakhmeh-ye waiting timeof 45minutes orso. Ask for foraboutIR30,000return,taxi including way toget here isbychartering aprivate a quicklookatthe From here, St,take headupImamKhomeini stands next toa stands Getting in is difficult asthecaretaker inisdifficult is Getting akitchen andalavatory. Themodern CENTRALIRAN••Yazd Orient Hotel Orient

( (2) 7 , p259 the mosquethrough ). Exit and, on the opposite corner, the and,ontheopposite corner,the

cemetery Amir Chakhmaq Complex Amir Chakhmaq Towers ofSilence

(8) Bogheh-ye SayyedRoknaddin hungry, you could now stop hungry, youcouldnowstop ( surrounded byfour ( 6 Hazireh Mosque(4) Hazireh 3 ; opposite) forlunch and isnearby.Theeasiest ; see TheQanat, ; see p260 ). shaded park. (Dakhmeh-ye (Dakhmeh-ye Fortress of Lions ofLions Fortress Amir Chakhmaq Amir Chakhmaq qanat ﺧﺎﻣﻮﺷﯽ Continue Continue , and turn , andturn ( 1 ; p260 ), p260), ; ), turn ), turn badg- Jameh Jameh badg-

ﺑﺮﺝ ( 5 ; right downasmallalleyto the right foraboutSq andkeep 150m. Turn straight sounds. Heading northwest,walkpastZiaee (9) isthe St. Totheright 100m orsoandyou’llcometoMirzazadeh about 70m until you come to a square with about 70m untilyoucome toasquare with left (southwest) underadomed passage for with aconcrete table-tennis table. Thenhead benduntilitcomestoadustyspace sweeping posite. Fromthetomb,turnleftandfollow a at the p260 ). Youcanstopforadrinkordirections just beyondisthe p260 ) –which hasacleanbathroom–and Ahead isthedomeof p260 ). Head Sqandturnright. backtoZiaee WALKING TOUR GET LOSTINYAZD

Khan Bazar

, which is actuallymore interesting than it

Meydan-e Qeyam St Qeyam WALKING TOUR how often yougetlost Duration Distance Finish Start 19 tourist informationoffice tourist Amir Chakhmaq Complex AmirChakhmaq Hammam-e Khan Restaurant Khan Hammam-e Panjeh-Ali about5km Bazar three tofive hours,dependingon END 18 14 17 16

15

Tomb ofthe12Imams Mirzazadeh

Heidarzadeh Coin Museum CoinMuseum Heidarzadeh 3 St 2 7 6 Alexander’s Prison Alexander’s Prison Ziaee

Sq Masjed-e Jameh St Jameh Masjed-e 13

Fazel St 12 Imam Khomeini St 200m 0.1miles 0 0 START 5 1 ( lonelyplanet.com 11 10 Khan-e Lari Lari Khan-e 13 8 ; p257 ) op- 4 Kohan Hotel 9 ( ( ( 11 12 10 ; ; ; Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book for somewell-earnedsustenance. Sq; s/tw/trIR50,000/80,000/120,000; Kamalieh domed roof of thenow-closed for about150m.Onyourleftistheuntiled almost-as-good views.C climb thestairs atthebackof the of theoldcity.Ifnot,you couldcarefully the you’ll beable toclimb tothedomedroof of (reach totryitfromtheinside),and through willbeunlocked doorontheright metal left. Ifyou’re very lucky,thegreen-and-white a three-storey white façade lonelyplanet.com pa JamehAve;jed-e dm€4,s/d/trwith breakfast €14/22/30; Alley,offMas- 2730; www.silkroadhotel.ir; 5Tal-e Khakestary AmirChakhmagh Hotel BUDGET prices are in proportiontoroomrates. AroundYazd, (see and Kharanaq p266 ), and tels offer daytripstoChakChak,Meybod atmospheric area in.Almostallho- tostay renaissance of thishistoricSilkRoadcity. and money contributes tothepreservation usual cookie-cutter hotels. Even better, your of placeyougetthis withthesense inthe as Iranianshave forcenturies.Compare takhts this historiccitybyday,andthensitonthe of thesights hour culturalimmersion; see transformed intohotels. Theresult is24- sonnati the entire More MiddleEast. than10 historic bunch of hotels inIran,andpossibly Yazd hasquite simply themostcharismatic, Sleeping or the and headforeither places are probably better. The dormslisted inanyof thefollowing and theshared bathroomscouldbecleaner. complex,butroomscanbenoisy Chakhmaq It’sinagreatindeed. locationbeside theAmir at thisrate inafew years itwill be…very old isnotahistorichotel, though Chakhmagh Qeyam St.Crossintothe southwest,untilyoureachheading roughly theoldcity, own. Wendyourwaythrough Using asaguide,you’re these now onyour theminarets ofyou’ll see theJameh Mosque. o Not surprisingly,theoldcityismost Silk Road Hotel Silk RoadHotel Hosseinieh (14) ) (daybeds), sip tea and eat local food (daybeds), siptea andeatlocalfood Hammam-e Khan Restaurant Restaurant Khan Hammam-e Two minutes’ walk fromtheMasjed- (traditional houses) have (traditional houses) nowbeen

(16) . Keep laneand alongthesame for quite splendid views forquite splendid views

Malek-o Tojjar Malek-o ( (Jada-e Abrisham; Abrisham; (Jada-e x 626 9823; Amir Chakhmaq 626 9823;AmirChakhmaq ontinue southwest ontinue southwest Panjeh-ali Bazar ai (takieh) takieh (15) takieh ) The Amir TheAmir Madraseh-e Madraseh-e ( ( 19 18 ; p265 ) ; p264 ) khan-e on the on the x

(17) for for 625

around a courtyard. Communal kitchen. No English is spoken. NoEnglishisspoken. Communalkitchen. around acourtyard. 150,000; breakfast IR170,000/250,000; St;dmIR50,000,s/twwith .kohanhotel.com; offImamKhomeini parking foroverlanders. parking hasattachedbathroom.Secure rooms. Onlythetriple s/tw/tr IR60,000/80,000/110,000; old city. in renovated orconverted homesinYazd’s All of thefollowingare traditional hotels MIDRANGE Beheshty Hotel discounts forlonger stays. canoffer social. Owners AliandSebastian breakfast isbothdeliciousandwonderfully theoddambassador.and even Thebuffet room), itcaters tobackpackers, flashpackers seven-bed underground dormitory(nobath- anda simple butattractive rooms(noTVs) talked abouttravellers’ stopinIran.With15 vibe andfairpricehasmadeitthemost deliciousfood,laid-back courtyard setting, e Jameh, theSilkRoad’smixof traditional off a long stairway toa off alongstairway six-bed dorms(each withbathroom)open aroundalushgardencourtyard,whiletwo set The 18traditionalbutunadornedroomsare and given itarelaxed, welcomingambience. and hisfamilyhave renovated thefamilyhome fast €20/30/40; JamehSt;s/d/tr withbreak- .com; 6thAlley,offMasjed-e Ave;off ImamKhomeini s/dIR220,000/300,000; as theSilk RoadHotel, theOrient isset Hotel Aria but uninspiring. parking), thefollowingtwooldiesare cheap inspiring rooms.Arestaurant isattached. andfair-valuehas comfortable ifnot-exactly- in theOldCity,thisunpretentious littleplace s/tw/tr US$27/38/50; others first. liness andvaluetheyare try notfantastic; sunken forsize,clean- courtyard,though arounda Soroush hasroomsontwolevels it’s neartheCoinMuseum. signs alongalaneonyourleft.Ifyouget lost, Masjed-e Jameh Ave, andfollowthestencil St,past head northeastonImamKhomeini should beopenwhenyouarrive. Tofindit, Soroush Guesthouse Kohan Hotel If theothers are the full(oryouneed Orient Hotel Hotel Orient Rose Traditional Hotel Rose TraditionalHotel a ( x ) Overpriced rooms, some without bathroom, rooms,somewithoutbathroom, ) Overpriced ai 626 0411;10Farvardin St;rIR80,000- ( (Kohan Kashaneh; x ( x CENTRAL IRAN••Yazd a 626 5517; Imam Khomeini St; 626 5517;ImamKhomeini ) 626 7783;orient_hotel@gmail ) From the same ownersFrom the same The attractive-looking ( ( x ai x qanat 622 5790-92;Farhang Alley, 626 5159;offBasijAve; ap

) x Owner Taslim . A restaurant . Arestaurant ) Simple,clean 621 2485;www a )

Deep Deep

263 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN tw/ste IR600,000/1,000,000; 54; www.caravanseraihotel.com;Imamzadeh-ye Ja’farBlvd; make itparticularlyworthwhile. discounts coming feel, andbiglow-season storey restored Ithasawel- caravanserai. 22 mid-sizedroomsare aroundatwo- set intheOldCity. The is agoodchoice deep withtheMamalakto beconfused Moshir, responsive androoftop viewsexpansive. than some,thefoodisdelicious,service the roomshere are bigger andbetter equipped ditional choice. Signposted from QeyamSt, restored andconverted andisanexcellenttra- Zargar-eold Khan-e Yazdi lovingly hasbeen Favardin St;s/d US$30/60,steUS$100-120; US$35-40, trUS$45-60,fUS$75; .com; Panjeh-ali Bazar,QeyamSt;dmUS$5,sUS$20-25,tw Dad is not namedfor anyone’s father, make thisatopchoice. Discountspossible. rooftop Marco ( PoloRestaurant opposite ) location besidetheMasjed-e Jameh and rooms,unbeatable comfortable service, more family-oriented place. Theconvivial courtyardsandisa around twohigh-sided 264 sex-at-a-time, ofsex-at-a-time, course. andtwosmallJacuzzis,sauna one- tobeused glass andlowdoorways,there’s a even tive roomsretain theiroddshapes, stained deliver above-average The24attrac- service. and isrunbyenthusiasticyoungYazdis who 215-year-old mansionwasrecently restored for thesignandsmalldoorwayonleft. cold inwinter. ComingfromQeyamSt,look There’s itcanbe alsoafinedorm,though make itagoodchoice. and homelyservice the atmosphere, deliciousfood(see right ) tiny andplumbingcanbeinconsistent. Still, bathroomsare doorways andsteep stairways, gether fromoddspacesconnected bylow rything isoriginal.Roomsare cobbled to- not completely renovated, which meanseve- time. ThisQajar-era homewasconverted, food andfeeling transported toadifferent soon belyingarounddrinkingtea, eatingfine Yazd’s originaltraditionalhotel, where you’ll lamp-lit passage fromthePanjeh-ali is Bazar ai Sq;s/d/tr/fUS$50/70/85/100; .yazdhotel.com; AmirChakhmaq breakfast US$35/50/70/95; Alley,offQeyam St;s/d/tr/stewith hotel.ir; LabeKhandaq Dad Hotel Dad Hotel Moshir Caravanserai YazdMoshir Caravanserai Hotel ae- Tojjar Malek-o Mehr Traditional Hotel TraditionalHotel Mehr Yazd TraditionalHotel CENTRALIRAN••Yazd ) At thetopof themidrange, this ( x 622 9444; www.hoteldadint.com; 214 622 9444;www.hoteldadint.com; 214 ( x pai 622 4060;www.malek-o-tojar a a ( x ( ) x This Moshir,not ) 622 7400;www.mehr Down a narrow, Down anarrow, 622 8500-09;www ) The250-year- pais ( x 622 7050- ) venient and the service disorganised. disorganised. venient andtheservice the locationawayfromOldCityisincon- pai opposite AbanbarGolshan,offBasijAve; s/dUS$70/95; -o-tojar.com; Panjeh-ali Bazar,offQeyamSt;mealsIR35,000) Iranians, thisis glass. Therestaurant isalsoquite good.For decorated colours withbright andstained and above-ground allvery affairs, attractively tive garden.Roomsare amixof subterranean aroundanexpansive,tional placeset attrac- in Yazd, theMamalak Moshirisafaux-tradi- purpose builtashotels. purpose are twofaux-traditionalplaces, these Jumping onthe TOP END (women AM,menPM). take adipinthesparklingunderground pool they’re good value,especiallywhenyoucan feel asreal asthegenuinely oldplaces.Still, not much and,well,theydon’t naturallight rooms are reasonably there stylish,though is The 54spacious,modernandwell-equipped patriarch itcouldbecalled‘great granddad’. asthebrainchildthough of an84-year-old sidering the surrounds. dishes. And it’svery reasonably priced con- ful soups, regional classics,includingsomedelight- dishes here are complemented withseveral surroundsandfineIranian The evocative o RESTAURANTS a solidtypeof fairyflossorcottoncandy. than classicTurkishbaklava, and for food won’tbetoofaraway.Yazd isfamous that ifyou’re inatraditionalhotel, staying of thebetter optionshere, butrest assured courtyards asa restaurant. We’re listingsome Most of one of thetraditionalhotels use their Eating breakfast US$65/85/100/140; 65; www.hotelgardenmoshir.com; EnqelabAve; s/d/tr/stewith mention the food. Better valueelsewhere. mention thefood.Better is very andthat’sbefore one-star, weeven especially intherestaurant, Service, stay. thebestplaceto yards. It’snot,however, aroundthree40 luxuriousroomsset court- most stunningof therestored homes, with Malek-o Tojjar Malek-o Laleh Hotel Laleh Hotel Hotel Mamalak Moshir Mamalak Hotel baghlava, ) Laleh isundoubtedly oneofLaleh the bademjan ( which issimilarbutthicker x the Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book khan-e sonnati 622 5048;www.yazdlalehhotel.com; place to stay inYazd, placetostay but ( x ai andothervegetarian (Moshir Gardens; (Moshir Gardens; 622 4060;www.malek ) The largest hotel lonelyplanet.com bandwagon x pashmak, 523 9760-

Sq; mealsIR25,000; Masjed-e JamehAve; mealsIR35,000-65,000) Masjed-e 65,000) JamehAve; mealsIR30,000- Alley,offMasjed-e Khakestary Eslami Blvd; pizzas IR20,000-50,000; lonelyplanet.com Amiran Paludeh QUICK EATS serve of Aussieslangispretty good,too.serve zas inIranandarange of classics.His Italian arguably thebestpiz- busy restaurant serving the ownerreturned hometoopenamodern, almost 30years asapizzachef inAustralia, too busy). Follow the signs from Qeyam St. too busy).FollowthesignsfromQeyamSt. and thefoodisdelicious(aslongasit’snot quil pools,arched ceilingsandfinetilework, ongoing popularity.Theinterior isalltran- historic restorations inYazd its anddeserves underground intheheartofDeep theoldcity,thisrestored meals IR35,000-60,000; San’ati; h Ave; mealsIR35,000-60,000; BaghAlley,offMotahari Khalf fruit and rose-water (IR1500abowl). fruit androse-water a typeof sorbetmadeof rice flour,grated indelicious tiny placespecialises for the setting. Idealforaromanticdinner.for thesetting. anddeliciousIranianfoodthat’sfit Masjed-e Jameh andsurroundingblue-tiled upsumptuousviewsof the restaurant serves crown atoptheOrientHotel, thisglass-sided staples at tasty prices;the attasty staples phere isabouttasty andstyle,theBaharestan pistachio-flavoured will happily letyoutaste afew offerings; the in frontof you byateam of busy menwho naire! Ahuge arrayof the pizza. Expectedtoopenroomsby2009. Iranianmenu,add(braceyourself) standard with bothprivate roomsand and aroundaparticularlylarge courtyard, other kabab.Relaxed, socialatmosphere. dishes amongtravellers whocan’tfacean- curriesarecontinental themostpopular good, thedelicious(ifnotsuper-hot) sub- o Baharestan Restaurant Baharestan Pizza Gole Sorkh Pizza GoleSorkh Yazd TraditionalCookie Silk Road Hotel Restaurant Restaurant Silk RoadHotel Hammam-e Khan Restaurant Restaurant Khan Hammam-e Mozaffar Traditional Restaurant TraditionalRestaurant Mozaffar noon-3pm &6-11pm) Marco Polo Restaurant PoloRestaurant Marco sonnati x While theIranianfoodhere isvery 627 0366; Meydan-e Khan Bazar, off Qeyam St; Bazar,offQeyamSt; Khan 627 0366;Meydan-e h scene, the Mozaffar is set in isset scene,theMozaffar 8am-4pm) hammam h (Favardin St,offBeheshtiSq) ( h x h 11.30am-5pm) loz-e peste 6-11pm) 725 7519; Jomhuri-ye Eslami Blvd; EslamiBlvd; 725 7519;Jomhuri-ye Sweet shop extraordi- Sweet 11.30am-3.30pm &7.30-11pm) A recent additionto shirin

is oneof theoriginal ( x ( x khoresht After working for After workingfor ( (sweets) is made ismade (sweets) x 525 3673; Jomhuri-ye 525 3673;Jomhuri-ye ( x Forget atmos- 622 5107;Beheshti takhts is supreme! 625 2730;5Tal-e (Chaykhaneh-ye (Chaykhaneh-ye 626 7783;off ( x Set like a Set isbest. paludeh, . To the . Tothe 622 7664; This

Beheshti Sq. Beheshti fairy floss),available inmanyshops around tooth, don’tforget totry ity incenturiespast.Ifyouhave asweet thetownitsprosper-products thatbrought maq Sq;pizzasIR30,000; Destination Fare Duration Departures Volvosarethough more frequent: Beheshti andAzadiSqs. Beheshti centre, from andaccessiblebyshuttle taxi (IR316,000, 70 minutes, twicedaily). IR8000; few usually others a 8.30pm 45,000 8am, 2pm& IR65,000(V) Zahedan 5-7hr 45,000 others 14hr 4pm IR18,000/ Tehran IR33,700/ 80,000 usuallyafew frequent Tabas IR37,000 3 10hr service, 30,000 8hr Shiraz 30,000 3-6pm IR42,000/ Mashhad 14-16hr 60,000 IR16,500/ Kerman frequent 4-5hr IR12,500/ Esfahan frequent 4-5hr Bandar Abbas Bam IR50,000(V) 7-9hr 4pm AhanBlvd) (Rah service, leaveAll buses fromthe BUS &MINIBUS Yazd airport AIR &Away There Getting as places inIranto buysilk(knownlocally The oldcitybazaars are probablythebest Shopping just might. just might. but theviewsfromrooftop (insummer) other dishes won’thave youwritinghome, ern Iranianmixof pizzaandmiscellaneous it’s directly opposite thecamelbutchery. three minutes. There’s no English sign,but modest littleplacecanknockoneupinabout Iran Air Fares are for Nemoner Sandwich Sito CoffeeShop&Pizza tirma h ( x ), brocade,glassware andcloth– Sat-Thu)

622 2080; Motahhari St) 622 2080;Motahhari ( x , about 3kmsouthwestof the R600 -1r frequent IR36,000/ 9-11hr 199) Fancy a camelburger? This CENTRAL IRAN••Yazd mahmooly is notthebusiestinIran.

(Imam Khomeini St; camel burgers St;camelburgers (Imam Khomeini h 11am-11pm)

( x pashmak main bus terminal main busterminal 622 0888;AmirChakh /Volvo buses, flies toTehran Themod- (Iranian (Iranian

-6pm 265 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN 7-11pm) hrnq brick village of inavalley about Kharanaq, and crumblingmud- The virtually deserted Kharanaq as adestinationin itself. there –eitherenroute to/fromGarmehor ( p254 andyoucansleep Kharanaq, ) passes to ChakChak.Theirregular bustoGarmeh Yazd, butthere’s nopublictransportatall or Ardakanfromthemainbusterminal in but more runtoMeybod costly.Minibuses tour ( p257 ), which ismuch more rewarding the street (about IR250,000)ortake aguided to 6pm)andyoucaneitherhire from ataxi trip fromYazd. It’salongday(about 7am dakan areaspartof aloopingday bestseen ChakChak,MeybodKharanaq, andAr- AROUND YAZD cost IR10,000totheterminals. ataboutIR6000forshort trips,and start a privateforIR20,000.Taxis taxi Enqelab-e EslamiSqforabout IR2000, or To theairporttake from ashuttle taxi Around Getting arriving at6.10am. at 4.50pmMonday,WednesdayandFriday, Mashhad (Ghazal1stclassIR149,000)leave Wednesday andFridayat7.10pm.Trainsto andonMonday, is adailytrainatmidnight, (1st classonly,IR53,000,ninehours) there 6.10am isabetter choice. Abbas ForBandar class train(IR15,950,five hours) departingat Tehran stopsatabout 2.20am,butthe2nd- and 10.20pm.ForKerman thetrainfrom Abbas. FromTehran, trainsleave at8.35pm chette atabout2amenroute fromBandar at 9pmand10.10pm;afour-berth cou- hours),eight viaKashan andQom,departing by): twowithsix-berth couchettes (IR48,550, Tehran berths (though canbehardtocome There are three trainsdailyfromYazd to TRAIN ForGarmeh,see drop youinBam. p254 . will morning crossing.AnybustoZahedan with timetocontinuetheborderfora gets youthere service The 4pmZahedan 266 from agencies ( p257 ) thanatthestation. Oddly, traintickets are much easiertobuy Sqs, orcharter forabout IR10,000. ataxi orAzadi here fromBeheshti byshuttletaxi The CENTRALIRAN••AroundYazd is next to the main bus terminal. Get is nexttothemainbusterminal. Get train station

( x 139; h 8am-1.30pm & dar baste ﺧﺮﺍﻧﻖ 18 June. for anannualfestival 14and heldbetween make itworththeclimb. likeness of Zoroaster. Thedramaticviews withthe which hasabrassdoorembossed Kharanaq raphers willlove itmid-afternoon. to irrigate thesurroundingfields.Photog- anancientaqueduct,built valley belowtosee the roof, sowatch yourstep. Walkintothe atleastonetouristfallthrough we’ve seen to arrange that. guide (orthefolksatSilkRoadKharanaq) a andyou’llneed however, get intothese, have restored. allbeen akey You’llneed to the of thebuildingsare not.Theexceptionis locationisimpressive ifmost even cliff-side chak, chak andwater begandrippingout–the cliff site. Short of water, at shethrew herstaff princessNikbanuhSassanian fledtothis that after the Arab invasioninAD637the of Yazd legend hasit inthedesert, anddeep astrian pilgrimage. About 72kmnorthwest Zoro- Chak isIran’smostimportant Chak minaret The Qajar-era in someformformore than4000years. than 1000years oldandthesite occupied 70km northof Yazd, tobemore isbelieved clude a300-year-old 9am to5pm,or7pminsummer. Theyin- each otherinthewestof town,allopenfrom 1800 years old.Ithasthree near main sights sprawling mud-brick townthatisatleast About 52kmnorthof Yazd, MeybodMeybod isa the street. Crumbling a huge Safavid-era man’; a above thedoor,‘King’sRoad, ReytoKer- asarelay on,asitsays station that served for onward transport. for onwardtransport. include breakfast anddinner,guidance town.Rates you’d expectinavirtualghost remains assimple–andappropriate –as extensivelybuilding hasbeen renovated but them.Themodestadobe be madethrough guys inYazd ( p263 ), andallbookingsshould Chak Chak attracts thousands ofChak attractsthousands pilgrims Many of thebuildingsare fallingdownand Pir-e-Sabz fire temple fire Pir-e-Sabz and caravanserai (dm/s/d €5/10/15) means‘drip,drip’.Thesteep, caravanserai mosque ice house withacovered post house , is run by the Silk Road is runbytheSilkRoad

17th-century Narein castle Narein on theedge of town , hometothedrip,

(yakh dan) lonelyplanet.com (admission IR3000) qanat ﭼﮏ

Silk Road Silk Road (admission (admission shaking shaking across across

; and ; and ﭼﮏ ﻣﻴﺒﺪ

property soaskatthegate before entering. before cominghere… It’songovernment art. Avoid anythingmind-altering taking in acrudecelebrationof thetaxidermist’s today about100pigeons swingfromstrings meticulouslyrestoredtower hasbeen and guano wascollected asfertiliser.whose The pigeontower desert-rooftop viewsacrosstown. affords of timesand town,dates fromSassannian IR2000; lonelyplanet.com near Esfahan, islargely destroyed). only two circularcaravanserais (theother, built topromote it’s oneof trade. Ofthose, rai waspartof a networkof 999such hostels plain flanked thecaravanse- bymountains, south of Yazd (that’s60km)inavastdesert Shah Abbas I.Located twodays’camelride year-old caravanserai builtontheorders of sole structure and Blink andyou’dmiss where the Zein-o-din, Zein-o-din era crumbling butstilllargely Safavid- intact, tourist infrastructure. What ithasisthe villageof thesleepy haszero thehighway, for hauliers headingnorth.About 6kmeast werecaravanserais thelaststopbefore Yazd Saryazd means‘headof Yazd’ anditstwo Saryazd almost any deliciouscamelkababs in you cansample and Chak. There are someattractive oldlanes worth adetouronthewaytoorfromChak rather thanspecificbuildings,makes it Qanat, p260 amazing setting, ). Ardakan’sdesert regional agriculturalcentre courtesy of its cityanda dakan isanotherancientdesert Now almostmerging withMeybod, Ar- Ardakan Jameh) IR40,000). IR40,000). come withataxi Abuzar SqinYazd, mostpeople though is justafunplaceinwhich towanderabit. floors, andfinerooftop views. Andthevillage ancient potsscattered aroundthedusty plete withthree floors of rooms,somewith As youenter town,stopatthecircular Infrequent comehere minibuses from Robat-e Noh Robat-e badgirs . Ardakanisfamousforitscamelsand h 9am-5pm, to7pmsummer) qanat aroundthe kababi that once housed 4000pigeons thatoncehoused irrigation system (see The irrigationsystem (see (New Caravanserai), com- (NewCaravanserai), . raison d’etre dar baste Jameh Mosque , inthecentre (oneway isa400- ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ (Masjed-e (Masjed-e ﺍﺭﺩﮐﺎﻥ ﺳﺮﻳﺰﺩ

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two meals€48; perpersonincl 0912 3060441;[email protected]; today and Shiraz. Yazd off anybusbetween local rates. Get a decentrestaurant andwilloften charge as youcomeintotownfromtheeast,has x education, nightingales, poetry andwine. poetry education, nightingales, dens, Shiraz hasbecomesynonymous with City of Cityof Roses, Love andCityof Gar- as theDar-ol-Elm the of (House Learning), culture formore than2000years. Known celebrated astheheartlandofbeen Persian Shiraz isacityof sophisticationthathas x SHIRAZ storey day beahotel; lookforthedistinctive two- restored Qajar-era one mansionthatmight isthe draw, however, 4000-plus-year-old Alidome cluding ahuge trail stop.There are attractions, in- several Yazd and Shiraz isagoodoff-the-tourist- This historic townontheroadbetween x ABARQU IR30,000 perhourwaitingtime. dar baste ortake asavaridropped atZein-o-din, (pick oneupatAbuzar Sq)andasktobe arranged –withnotice. springcanbe walkstoamountain desert negotiable insummerandDecember. Pricesareso advancebookingisessential. and excursions tobeplannedahead, need isolationmeansfood food. Zein-o-din’s andthedelicious bathrooms, theservice differs isinthestylishandcleancommunal youfromthecorridor.separating Where it tresses ontopof carpets withjustacurtain roomsofferits originalstate: theraised mat- simple accommodationrestored toalmost centuries of the grimefromthewalls,saw 13,000 pumicestoneswere toscour used Road. Athree-year renovation, duringwhich taste of acaravan traders’ life ontheSilk Thankfully, thisonewasbuilttolastand The Take anybusheadingsouthtoKerman Apart fromjustchilling outSafavid style, 682 1030;s/dUS$36/48; 0711 / pop 1,750,000 / elev 1531m 0711 /pop1,750,000elev 1510m 0352 /elev Caravanserai Zein-o-din Zein-o-din Caravanserai badgir Hotel PouyaAbarkuh Hotel foraboutIR80,000oneway;add p . CENTRAL IRAN••Abarqu ) isaserendipitous, romantic , theJameh Mosqueanda ice house cypress tree cypress pai Khan-e Aghazadeh Khan-e , the11th-century

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A University B C D E 25 F ὈὈEram Stadium ὈὈὈ 60 Allah Akbar Shiraz Sq To Marvdasht (42km); Quran Gorge University Persepolis (54km); Sq Esfahan (473km); Tehran (863km) 29 19 1 Daneshju Blvd Quran Blvd To Yord Khakshenasi St Azad Restaurant (7km) Azadi Sq Sq Some Minor Roads (Gas Park) not Shown Chamran Blvd Daneshju 44 Sq Bagh Blvd Azadi Blvd Hafez St ὈὈὈὈὈὈὈὈὈJahan 20 58 Qeyam Sq Nama (Atlasi Sq) Garden Azadi 59 47 Haft Tan Blvd NamazI Park Sq Saheli-ye Azadi Blvd Meshkin Fam St Neshat St Gharbi St 39 Karim Khan-e45 Zand Blvd 15 2 Ordibehesht St 64 Melli 63 Park Abadiat Moa'del St Horr St Cross Molla Sadra St 2 To Setareh Fars ὈὈὈὈὈὈὈὈὈHafez St Commercial Centre (1.5km): Soofi Traditional Saheli Esfahan Gate Golestan Blvd Restaurant 2 (1.5km); Afif Bridge Abad Garden (2km) Imam Hossein 27 Emadi St Sq Ferdosi St Felestin St Eizedi St Rudaki Ave 46 36 To Aramgah-e Sa'di To Dena 50 (Tomb of Sa'di) Haft-e Tir St FaqIhI St 41 (5km) Hospital (7km) Qasr-od-Dasht St 38 Hejrat St Saheli-ye Sharqi St 42 Sa'di St Asad AdadI St Shohada Sq 15 Khordad Cross 53 Khoshk 6 413 3 (Shahrdari Sq) Ὀ(ParamountὈ Cross) 14 5 Ὀ 3 Cinema 49 8 54 Sa'di 35 65 9 River 55 Anvari St Golestan 10 Takhti St Cross 52 17 22 Bahman St Sq 51 12 Keshavarz St 11 Dehnadi St 37 1 23 Towhid St 22 Bazar-e No St Moshir 56 40 Sq Piruzi St 57 26 24 43 48 32 62 Enqelab St Karim Khan-e (Zand Blvd) Esteghal Blvd ὈὈὈὈὈὈTaleqani St Ὀ Imamzadeh 34 lonelyplanet.com

Khayyam St Bibi Dokhtar Dast Bazar-e 61 Vakil 18 qieb 30 St Valiasr 4 Lotfali Khan St Moshir-e No St Qa'ani St Sq Salman-e Farsi Blvd 31 Valiasr Ahmadi 16 To Main Post Park Office (2km); Hasan Sq 28 Airport (7km) Sq Darvazeh-ye 21 To Amir Kabir Fakhr 7 Abad Kazerun 33 Modarres Terminal (1km) St ὈὈὈὈTerminal buildings were builtorrestored. 1747–79), whenmanyof itsmost beautiful dynasty(AD duringtheZand nian capital Islamicworld andwastheIra- the medieval It wasoneof citiesin themostimportant lonelyplanet.com tions from around 2000 BC anditwasan tions fromaround2000BC Shiraz ismentionedinElamite inscrip- History depths of winter). ofthe humidheight summer orthefreezing makes placetovisit(exceptat itapleasant a fertile valleyoncefamedforitsvineyards, but Shiraz’s agreeable asitisin climate, set (p279). Persepolis linger longer thanittakes tovisitnearby cient sophisticationthatreward who those site mosques andwhispered of echoes an- is alsohometosplendidgardens,exqui- major pilgrimage sites forIranians.Shiraz to thegraves of Hafez andSa’di,themselves like Shirazis. Thisisacityof andhome poets to seems upmanship iscommon,everyone inIran,whereAnd even regional one- tle, themostingenious, themostvivacious’. ‘…amongst allthePersians, themostsub- sians, Bagh-e Nazar &ParsMuseum.. ol-Molk...... Bagh-e Naranjestan&Khan-e Zinat Bagh-e JahanNama...... Bagh-e Eram...... Aramaneh)...... Armenian Church(Kelisa-ye Arg-e KarimKhan...... Aramgah-e Shah-eCheragh..... Hafez)...... Aramgah-e Hafez(Tombof Sham'un-eGhayur)...... Anglican ChurchofStSimonthe Zand Exchange...... Tourist Police...... Tourist InformationOffice...... Telephone Office...... Telephone Office...... Post Office...... Affairs...... Police DepartmentofAliens Persepolis Bookshop...... Paytakht...... Pars TouristAgency...... Maral Coffeenet...... Dr FaqihiHospital...... Bank Melli...... Aramgah-e HafezBookshop...(see15) Zealot(Kelisa-yeMoqaddas-e SIGHTS &ACTIVITIES INFORMATION In his1893book There are issues, theusualIranian traffic EdwardBrownedescribedShirazis as A Year Amongst the Per- 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 D3 E4 E1 B1 C4 D3 D4 E2 C3 C3 D3 D3 C3 D3 D3 F4 C3 C3 C3 C3 B2 D3 Persepolis Hotel...... Parsian Hotel...... Pars InternationalHotel...... Park SaadiHotel...... Mehmunsara Fadagh...... Kowsar Hotel...... Jaam-e-Jam ApartmentHotel... Hotel Sina...... Homa Hotel...... Hadish ApartmentHotel...... Esteghlal Hotel...... Aryo BarzanHotel...... Anvari Hotel...... Serai Mushir...... Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque...... Masjed-e Vakil(VakilMosque).. Shohada)...... Martyr's Mosque(Masjed-e Madraseh-ye Khan...... Kakh-e Eram(EramPalace)...... Jameh-ye AtighMosque...... Hamze...... Imamzadeh-ye AliEbn-e Hammam-e Vakil...... Gateway)...... Darvazeh-ye Quran(Quran Mohammad...... (see16) Boghé-ye SayyedMir Bazar-e Vakil...... Bazar-e Nou...... SLEEPING was worsened by several earthquakes, byseveral was worsened the entered alongperiodof decline. This wine. Butbythemid-17thcenturyithad heretraders settled toexportitsfamous during theSafavid period,whenEuropean 14th centuries. the13thandIslamic worldthroughout make itoneof thegreatest citiesinthe other brilliantartistsandscholars, helped the presence of Hafez, Sa’diandmany encouragement of enlightened rulers, and which becameerasof The development. enjoyed theMongolandTimurid periods, slaughter. Having avoided calamity,Shiraz paying tribute waspreferable tomass thecity’srulers decidedthatcause wisely rampaging MongolsandTamerlane be- artisticcentre.became animportant ofAtabaks Fars inthe12thcentury,whenit andgrewin importance furtherunderthe By 1044Shiraz torivalBaghdad wassaid Persepolis, butnowcompletely destroyed). (8kmnortheastof capital the lastSassanian following theArabconquestof Estakhr, the provincial untilaboutAD693, capital Shiraz However, didnotbecome sanians. regionalimportant centre undertheSas- Shiraz remained aprovincial capital Shiraz wasspared destructionbythe 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 D4 E4 D4 D4 D4 A1 D4 E2 D4 E1 D4 D3 E2 C3 B2 E1 C4 C3 C3 C3 C2 C3 C3 C3 C3 Park TaxiService...... (see 10) Iran Peyma Office...... Iran Aseman...... Iran Air...... Terminal...... Carandish Bus/Minibus Seray-e MehrTeahouse...... Khajo Teahouse...... Aroosh Khorshid...... (see37) Teahouse...... (see15) Aramgah-e Hafez Yavar Restaurant...... Shater AbbasRestaurant1...... Sharzeh Traditional Sarve NazRestaurant...... (see50) Restaurant Hatam...... Pat TraditionalRestaurant...... Mahdi Faludeh...... Haji BabaRestaurant...... Gavara Restaurant...... (see48) 110 Hamburgers...... Zand Hotel...... Shiraz EramHotel...... Sasan Hotel...... Saadi Hotel...... Restaurant...... TRANSPORT TEAHOUSES &CAFÉS EATING CENTRAL IRAN••Shiraz 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 57

269

D2 C1 C3 B3 D3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C4 C3 B2 A2 F4 D4 E1 D3 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN major gardens. Tothewest andnorthwestof of thatthetombsof Hafez andSa’di the River,To thenorthis Khoshk andnorth bazaar andthemajor mosquesandshrines. ofwithin walkingdistance most hotels, the hada Sq(stillwidelyknownasShahrdari Sq), most of yourtime. Thecitycentre isSho- ofwithin walkingdistance Zand. andnearlyallthe hotels, areto see, onor without leaving Shiraz. Mostof thethings as fareastandwestyouwouldwant togo runsabout Thisboulevard simply toZand). Blvd(shortened lined Karim Zand Khan-e The mainstreet of Shiraz isthe wide, tree- Orientation titlethan higher of Persia, Karim refused Khan totake any 1750. Despite beingmaster of virtuallyall nasty, madeShiraz in thenationalcapital the first dy- rulerof theshort-lived Zand Karimto prosperity.Theenlightened Khan, 200 years earlier. Butthecitysoonreturned had fallento50,000,aquarter of thenumber 1747, Shiraz wassqualidanditspopulation ruthless fashionafter asiege byNaderShah. in 1744,which wasputdownintypically and anuprisingledbyShiraz’s governor raidsofAfghan theearly18thcentury, 270 for itsuniversities. administrative centre, onefamous though Shiraztegic importance, isnowlargely an ing anygreat industrial,religious orstra- planning underthePahlavi dynasty.Lack- destroyed asaresult of irresponsible town waseitherneglected or trict of theZands, ance of Shiraz, andespecially the royaldis- 1930s. Much of thearchitectural inherit- opening of thetrans-Iranianrailwayin this rolewasgreatly diminished withthe position onthetraderoute toBushehr,but the remains of Karim –toTehran. Khan 1789 hadmoved –and thenationalcapital destroyed thecity’sfortificationsandby The Qajars, longtimeenemies,attacked and After thingsfell hisdeath,however, apart. what wasthepre-eminent bazaarinPersia. missioned manyfinebuildings,including the area of theArg-e Karim andcom- Khan the equalof EsfahanunderShah Abbas I. mined tobuildShiraz intoaworthycapital, The old city or nearby is where you’ll spend The oldcityornearbyiswhere you’llspend At thetimeof NaderShah’s murderin Shiraz remained prosperousduetoits Karim foundedaroyaldistrictin Khan CENTRALIRAN••Shiraz vakil (regent). He wasdeter- .com; Dena Alley, Motahari Blvd)BestinShiraz. .com; DenaAlley,Motahari prices. range ofHafez booksattourist and postcards. Hotel,agoodrangeofpictorials posite thenewShahreraz Karim Khan. Exchangeon1stfloor. Khan. Karim peak season. There’s rarely anyonehere outside Khan. Karim Arg-e Fri) English-speaking andveryhelpful. English-speaking Fri) h Paytakht h Coffeenet Maral the following: of Shiraz’s many GPS You won’tneed technology tofindone ACCESSINTERNET Police Tourist central hospital;public. Dr Faqihi Hospital Dena Hospital it’s agood place toget sick. Shiraz is famous for itsmedicaltrainingso EMERGENCY Persepolis Bookshop HafezBookshop Aramagh-e BOOKSHOPS Information trips fromthecentre. and twomajor busterminals are shorttaxi a hill,manyuniversity buildings.Theairport town are thesmarter residential areas and,on Hejrat St Telephone office Shiraz. Forinternational calls: Local callsare free from publicphonesin TELEPHONE Post office forbigitemsonly. road totheairport, postoffice Main POST sion, fast,andlongerhours. h Zand Exchange Bank Melli safe andyourbestoption. arethe exchange simple, alongZand offices have foreign exchange facilities.However, The centralbranches of themajor banks MONEY 8.30am-2.30pm &4.30-9pmSat-Thu, 8.30am-2.30pm 9am-1pm &4-9pm) 8am-1pm &4-7pmSat-Thu) Goodrates,nocommis- ( h ( x ( (Karim Khan-e Zand Blvd) Next to the Arg-e totheArg-e Zand Blvd) Next Khan-e (Karim 8am-8pm Sat-Thu) x 222 7989;Sa’diSt;perhrIR8000; (Karim Khan-e Zand Blvd) Outside the Outside ZandBlvd) Khan-e (Karim ( ( x 224 1516;HejratSt) ( x Park Hotel Lane (Park HotelLane;perhrIR8000; x ( 628 0411-18;www.denahospital x 222 2854; Karim Khan-e ZandBlvd; Khan-e 222 2854;Karim coffeenets 726 9070;Modarres Blvd)Onthe ( x 235 1091;ZandBlvd)Themost 233 8200; Rudaki St)Op- 233 8200;Rudaki ( ( h h , which include lonelyplanet.com 9am-5pm) Wide 8am-9pm Sat-Thu); we were here, Shiraz wasthebestplace inIranforvisaex- h notguides. Notethat they’re drivers, service. h good fun.HeworkswithPars Agency orindependently. Tourist isnotaguideassuch,buthe’slovelyguyand .com) Kazem mended by several readers whohaveusedhimacrossIran. mended byseveral hasnonethelessbeenrecom- than tourguide,Morteza moonlights as a (safe) driver andfixer.moonlights asa(safe) driver hotmail.com) HosseinworksintheShirazEramhoteland Tourist informationoffice Tourist INFORMATION TOURIST lonelyplanet.com Police Department of Police Department VISA EXTENSIONS .com; ZandBlvd; Agency Pars Tourist TRAVEL AGENCIES .com; ZandBlvd; Agency Pars Tourist Park Taxi Service Mehrparvar Morteza Salehi Kazem Hossein Soltani Arash Sadeghzadeh arranged hotel. almostevery through Shiraz; see p280 Tours fordetails. canalsobe trips to Persepolis orotherattractions around Travellers commonlyhire ordriver ataxi for TOURS x thingson tohelpsort canbecontacted Nematollahi ofanemergency,ownerMasoud sions etc. Intheevent visaexten- travel agencyjobs:air,busandtrainticketing, i can bearranged. languages several day, orUS$50adayforovernighttrips; great waytomeetthelocals. GuidescostaboutUS$25a andapicnic lunch(US$10)…it’sa Iranians forwalking abusfullofinterested take (US$1 perhour)andonFriday are fixed andlistedonline.Theyalsorentprices bikes climbing andnomadtours. All trekking, Bavanat, skiing, Pasargadae forUS$50percar;alsoFiruz Abad,Bishapur, to Persepolis forUS$8perperson,leavingdailyat8am; agency. The100optionsinclude:half-daygrouptrips value and–bestofallenjoyabletoursanyIranian runs probablythemostdiverse,well-organised,good- individual sights. andhaveusefulbrochuresfree on mapand/ordirections, Khan. Karim staffwillgiveyoua Helpful English-speaking ZandBlvd; Khan-e highly organisedguideandfixer. Recommended. topersia.com) Young,enthusiastic,knowledgeableand 7.30am-1.30pm Sat-Wed,7.30am-noon Thu)When 24hr) Long-running,reliable andrecommended taxi 0917 111 8514. Highly recommended. 0917 1118514.Highly ) Aswellastours,themultilingualteamdo usual ( x h h ( h x ( 0917 1130858;ilovetourists@yahoo 9am-9pm Sat-Thu, 9am-1pmFri; 9am-9pm Sat-Thu, Pars 9am-1pmFri) x ( ( ( 8am-8pm) Outside the Arg-e 8am-8pm) OutsidetheArg-e 0917 7131517;h-soltani-n@ x x x (

222 5544;Park HotelLane; Aliens Affairs Aliens Affairs x 0917 3171652;www.trip 222 3163;www.key2persia 222 3163;www.key2persia 0917 314 6124) More driver 0917 3146124)More driver ( x 224 1985; Karim 224 1985;Karim (off Valiasr Sq; sion IR3000; Photography isnotallowed. hisgrave. swordandindeed, Zand’s Khan includeKarim Exhibits particular highlight. ceiling a rior isstunning,withthestalactite receivedKhan foreign Theinte- dignitaries. decoratedlightfully pavilion where Karim walk aroundthegardenandview thede- additions.It’spossibleto Zand-era notable octagonal octagonal arrives inShiraz’. newtravellerevery foralongtimewho stature of amuses theKarim citadel Khan for years proclaiming:‘Theexalted been with thesignatentrance,which has nowagreecent additionsmeanyoumight wax figures intraditionaldress. re- These period,with ofand themuseum theZand insidethenorthwall,centuries, starting in Shiraz inthelate 19thandearly20th teresting are theexhibitionof photostaken filled withcitrustrees andapool.More in- as theArg’s bathhouse. underground system sewerage thatserved a noticeablelean,having subsidedontothe circular towers. Thesoutheastern towerhas wallspunctuatedhigh byfour14m-high fahan. Theexterior isfairlymundane,with torivalEs- hadhopedwoulddevelop Khan formed partof theroyalcourtthatKarim mer) hada Sq;admissionIR2000; AJDE AI The beautiful VAKIL MASJED-E Nazar Bagh-e BAGH-E NAZAR & Khan Karim Dominating the citycentre, theburly ARG-E KARIM KHAN Sights visas,seeMore Time,more onextending Please( p395 ). For tosavedoublingback. before goingfortheextension Agency ( Tourist left ) fortheaccount numberanddeposit (ShohadaSq);askPars Markazi be depositedatBankMelli the lightgreen door–it’s onthe3rdfloor. Yourcashmust atanangle.It’sanother70malong,behind heading north thethirdlane Sq, walkanother300morsoeast,thentake shuttle taxi(aboutIR1000)eastalongZandBlvdtoValiasr a thesameday.Togetthere, take up a30-dayextension before 9amandyoushouldbeabletopick tensions. Arrive Inside theArg isalarge, opencourtyard was built in the early Zand periodand wasbuiltintheearlyZand h Pars Museum

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ﺑﺎﻍ CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN Nou isty butstill pleasinglyproportioned a bitof souvenir shopping. placetogatheryourbreathpleasant anddo fully restored two-storey isa caravanserai Thistaste- bazaar lanecomingfromZand. Mushir thoroughfares. in themazeof lanesleadingoff themain time ordirection, soakinguptheatmosphere explored bywanderingwithoutconcernfor photogenic.is fantastically As usual,it’s best whenit Iran, especiallyintheearlyevening is oneof themostatmosphericbazaars in carpets, handicrafts,spicesandclothes Today, it’shometoalmost200stores selling remains coolinsummerandwarmwinter. ture, with thedesignensuringinterior avenues are architec- masterpieces of Zand great trading centre. Thewide vaulted brick aspartofKhan hisplantomake Shiraz intoa cruciform structure commissionedbyKarim H BZAS Vakil Bazar-e riods. Thefinestandmostfamousisthe of bazaars datingfromdifferent several pe- Shiraz’s ancienttradingdistrictiscomprised BAZAARS THE classic oldbathhouse. form, it’sworthpoppinginforalookatthe remained Ifitisopeninsome uncertain. butitsfutureas amodestcarpetmuseum, building. Shame. Inearly2008itreopened the kitchen wasdamagingthisclassicold Vakil mam-e traditional restaurants inIran,the After years asoneof themostpopular HAMMAM-E VAKIL was addedintheearlyQajar era. dominantly floralmotifsandarabesques, . Much of thetiling,withitspre- from amonolithcarriedalltheway hrab and14-step marbleminbar,carved side theprayerhallare animpressive mi- columns.In- hall supported by48carved proportioned 75m-by-36m vaulted prayer tiled alcoves andporches, andapleasingly inner courtyardsurroundedbybeautifully iwans the entrancetobazaar,ithastwovast period.Beside fromthelate Zand surviving Karim andistheonlymajor Khan mosque 272 On the north side of Zand isthe lesstour-On thenorthside of Zand Chances are you’llstumbleacross

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ﻣﺴﺠﺪ it is the stunning stained glass,exquisitely it isthe stunning stained to 6pmsummer) St;admissionIR15,000; fali Khan tiled background. stonecharactersinscription inraised ona the ancient and turningright after about50mleadsto entrance totheShah-e courtyard Cheragh thesoutheasternWalking through (back) ATIGH JAMEH-YE MASJED-E lonelyplanet.com Masjed-e Nasir-ol-Molk Nasir-ol-Molk Masjed-e Down theroadfromMadraseh-ye Khan, NASIR-OL-MOLK MOSQUE (Dastqeib St; Fars, foundedtheserene governorIn 1615,ImamGholiKhan, of KHAN MADRASEH-YE and bears a an uncannylikeness totheKaaba atMecca, have worked bears here. TheKhodakhaneh Hafezvaluable Qurans;poet to isbelieved 14th century(orperhaps earlier)topreserve of(House God).Itwasbuiltinthemid- istherarehighlight turreted in thesoutheastcornerare impressive, the hypostyle columnsintheancientprayerhall period onwards. isfromthelatemost of Safavid whatyousee is Shiraz’s oldestIslamicstructure, though Jameh-ye Atigh; outer andinthenorthern portal moulding inthesmallish larly finestalactite blue) isexquisite. There issomeparticu- oured shade tiling(anunusually deep of Built attheendof the19thcentury,itscol- photographed mosquesinsouthern Iran. views over thebazaar. ask tobeshowntheroof forpanoramic open it;atipisappreciated. Ifyouget in, butifyouget luckythecaretakerclosed will St.Thedoors Lotfali Khan off are usually inner courtyardandgarden. hasafinestone-walledlege (stillinuse) inYazdthe tilesused Thecol- andEsfahan. oftiling withmuch use red, incontrastto the outer arch andsomeintricate mosaic unusual typeof moulding inside stalactite watch forthe at itsentrancehassurvived; earthquakes andonlytheimpressive portal extensivelybuilding hasbeen damaged by lege forabout 100students.Theoriginal While thedomeof thenorth The buildingcanbereached viaalane h h is is one of the most elegantand knock onthedoor) Jameh-ye Atigh Mosque Jameh-ye Atigh unique Sassanid-style variable). (Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque;offLot- Datingfrom894this h Madraseh-ye Khan Madraseh-ye 8am-1pm &3.30-5pm, theologicalcol- ﻧﺼﻴﺮﺍﻟﻤﻠﮏ ﻋﺘﻴﻖ iwan Khodakhaneh

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the woodenbricksin wood asstrutswithinthewalls–lookfor due inparttoitsconstructionusingflexible numerousearthquakes,ture hassurvived walked water. downhilltoraise Thestruc- mer) admission IR30,000; ye Moqaddas-e Sham’un-e Ghayur; Sham’un-e ye Moqaddas-e the churches frauleins. andbustyGerman European-style motifs,includingAlpine interesting, withthebeamspainted with ings intheupstairs roomsare particularly windows.Ceil- panels andstained-glass combination of intricate tiles,inlaid wooden opens ontoroomscovered inabreathtaking lies. Thepavilion’s mirrored entrancehall by oneof Shiraz’s wealthiest Qajar-era fami- 1879 and1886,aspartof acomplex owned Ghavam Naranjestan-e fortheopulentlydecorated as thesetting The CHURCHES Naranjestan Bagh-e OL-MOLK BAGH-E NARANJESTAN &KHAN-E ZINAT into the intheopposite prayerhallopens museum tip thecaretaker A toopenthecurtains). have theglass(youmight up through to sible inthemorningforshotsof the halllit Photographers shouldcomeasearlypos- winter prayer hallthatare mosteye-catching. pillars andpolychrome faienceofcarved the private, closed – ringthedoorbell. closed doorbearing aPersianmetal crossis usually deus, anotherof the12Apostles.Thegreat martyred inPersia together withStThad- According tolocal tradition,StSimonwas on themincuneiform,probably bySharp. withbiblicalstoriesincised stone tablets very Iranianincharacter contains andeven 0035; ﻏﻴﻮﺭ of theNasirol-MolkMosque. dens are inawalledcompound400msouth as galleriesforyoungShirazi artists.Thegar- the Fars whileothers History Museum, serve decorated roomsare withexhibitsin stuffed the builderQavam. Todaymostof thefinely named after of itslastowner,thedaughter Down a small lane beside the garden is Down asmalllanebesidethegardenis isShiraz’s smallestgardenandisfamous Khan-e Zinatol-Molk Khan-e ) Anglican Church of St Simon the Zealot Anglican ChurchofStSimontheZealot , h

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CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN Blvd; admissionIR3000; ye Aramani; After sunset, with the tomb floodlit and sung with thetombfloodlit andsung After sunset, of Hafez –thefuture isapparent in his words. into yourfutureinsight byopeningavolume e Hafez, what is,formany,apilgrimage tohis tomb. possible, towatch thewayIraniansreact to discreet cornerof if thegrounds,atsunset Plan tospendacoupleof hours sittingina stonecolumnsbeneath atileddome. eight nal pavilion wasputupover it,supported by by Karim in1773.In1935,an octago- Khan wasplacedhere,poet, insidea small shrine, stone, engraved withalongverse fromthe ever-present Themarbletomb- noise. traffic pools, thewholesceneisrestful despite the happily handedachador very welcomingof foreigners; womenare some othershrines,thecaretakers here are a smallfortune,are alsointeresting. Unlike yard, forwhich familiesof paid thedeceased door. Thetombstonesaroundthecourt- windows andanintricate, ancientwooden dome, dazzlingmirrorwork,stained-glass tions. Ithasaneye-catching bulbousShirazi earthquakes destroyedprevious incarna- ing shrinewasbuiltinthe19thcenturyafter tohelpImamReza. Theexist- to Khorasan whoalsodiedhereCheragh whileenroute as thetombof EmirAli,anephew of Shah Hafez St,nearHamzehBridge; Aramgah-e Hafez Aramgah-e Hafez’s eternal holdonIranthanhere, at there isno better placetotryunderstand political persuasion theysubscribeto. And his work,bendingittowhichever socialor ern popstar. Iraniancanquote Almostevery loved, revered andaspopularmanyamod- order. Hafez isanIranianfolk-hero– thepoet (see p74 ). Andmanywouldreverse that have twothings:first theQuran,thenHafez Iranians have homemust thatevery asaying HAFEZ ARAMGAH-E The IMAMZADEH-YE ALIEBN-EHAMZE 274 enough toget enough youin. notbe knockingmight ceiling. However, is fam ous foritsfrescoes andflat,painted The 17th-century You might see peopleperforming the see You might inacharming gardenwithitstwo Set CENTRALIRAN••Shiraz Imamzadeh-ye Ali Ebn-e Hamze Imamzadeh-ye AliEbn-e a popular ritual in which you seek apopularritual in which youseek ﺍﺭﺍﻣﻨﻪ

ﮐﻠﻴﺴﺎی (Tomb ofHafez; (Tomb h 8am-10pm) ; Nohahar Alley,offQa’aniSt) ; Nohahar Armenian Church ﺣﻤﺰﻩ h , andinyougo! x dawn-dusk)

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faal- , towards theuniversity. goingalong Zand anyshuttle taxi taking The gardensare to reach easyenough by charge foreigners 10timesthelocalprice. aged byShiraz University, which chooses to not opentothepublic.Thegardensare man- ace, the around apretty poolbesideaQajar-era pal- young Shirazis. Thegardensare centred corners of thegardensare popularwith social anthropologists–themanyhidden tation of Bagh-e Eram,but ifyoujustwant oftation Bagh-e reopened have in2005.It doesn’t the repu- RMA- AD Sa’di Aramgah-e While notaspopularHafez’s tomb,the ARAMGAH-E SA’DI or take (aboutIR7000). aprivate taxi from Shohada SqtoGhaemSq,thenwalk; can walk(about2km);take ashuttletaxi should beopenbythetimeyouarrive. but whenwepassed, the groundswasclosed inthewalledgardenatbackofteahouse the magicof ancientPersia. Thecharming nottofeel transported backto it isdifficult pipedoverpoetry thepublicaddress system, AHEJHNNM Nama e Jahan foryears,After thelovely beingclosed BAGH-E JAHAN NAMA summer) Blvd; admissionIR40,000; ful Famous cypress foritstall trees, thedelight- ERAM BAGH-E Blvd; admissionIR3000; the entrance. the tomb.Foodanddrinkisavailable near to Sa’diSq,thenwalkabout800muphill threeshuttle taxi squares southwest(IR1000) Blvd(outsideHafez’slestan tomb),take a and Sa’diinasingleafternoon. FromGo- a fishpondthatisfed bya an underground ( teahouse p278 around ) set dome (see p74 formore onSa’di).Nearbyis ous verses fromSa’diandsupportingatiled sided stonecolonnade,inscribedwithvari- inanopen- with thetombstonehoused It’satranquilplace, about gardensandroses. propriate foramanwhowrote soextensively and itsgenerous surroundinggardensare ap- IR1500; To get here fromthe centre of townyou It’s easytovisitthetombsof bothHafez Bagh-e Eram Bagh-e h will impress and buddingbotanists Kakh-e Eram Kakh-e 8am-noon &2-5pm,to 7pmsummer)

(Jahan Nama Garden; Hafez St; admission Nama Garden; (Jahan

(Garden ofParadise;(Garden (Tomb ofSa’di; (Tomb h h (EramPalace), which is 7.30am-9pm, to10pmsummer) 8am-noon & 2-5pm, to 7pm 8am-noon &2-5pm,to7pm

qanat x lonelyplanet.com x 730 1300; Bustan 730 1300;Bustan ﺳﻌﺪی . ﻧﻤﺎ 627 3647; Eram 627 3647;Eram

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lonelyplanet.com get here, take a shuttle taxi to Quran Sq or walk get here, toQuranSq orwalk take ashuttletaxi To young people hanging,especially atsunset. are three here teahouses thatare popularwith the viewsof Shiraz are breathtaking. There more tombsandsome of Kuhiinsearch to climbupMtBaba two was stolenfromthePars in2003. Museum period, duringthe Zand Quran, installed anyjourney.The fineoriginal undertaking underneathit beforetraditionally passed gateway holdsaQuranandtravellers have in 1949toreplace twoearliergateways. The not desperately impressive structure built Quran below. Thisisalsohometothe when theylooked fromhere downtoShiraz Gorge Allah peoplewouldpraise because Shiraz isaravine knownastheAllahAkbar At thenorthernandmainentranceto QURAN DARVAZEH-YE come ondown. ofto bewithinwalkingdistance yourhotel, spend IR30,000fortheprivilege andwantit to hangoutinthegreenery, don’twantto Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book Those with good leg muscles might want want withgoodlegmusclesmight Those I love theoldhousesand Madraseh-yeKhan. ismyfavourite; or Bam. Maybeit’sbecauseI’manarchitect, butKashan Mahan Kerman, Kashan, restaurants orcafés. Iusedtogowithmygirlfriend andnowweare married westillgo. together –butthere isnowhere togo. The gardenisagreat placeforthis,much better than problem becausetheywanttogosomewhere toenjoythemselves –nothingillegal,justtobe findsomespareon theweekend, grassandsit,especiallyinsummer. some ofthemostfamousgardensinIran.Shirazisspecialisegoingoutandwelove togoout InShiraz,Ilove thatbuildingalive,keep andthat’simportant. thegardensmost.Wehave thisendeavourasuccess. Whentouristsspendmoneyinhistoric buildingsithelpstomaking The traditionalhotels inYazd tourism isin are agood example,andweknowhowimportant reject theoldcityalive it.Tokeep wehave programstohelptheoldplacespayforthemselves. are manythreats; wehave topayattention toevery detailandifaplanthreatens theheritage,we Now Shirazisready topreserve togrowandadvance,butweare thehistory.There stillworking I love totravel andwithmyworkItravel Yazd, aboutoneweekevery twomonths,toEsfahan, The foranotherreason, gardensare too. important Usually,agirlfriend andboyfriendhave a (Quran Gateway; QuranSq) (Quran Gateway; friendly and the weather is perfect –nottoohotandcold.friendly andtheweatherisperfect doesn’t have theterrible trafficyouhave inothercities,peopleare especially these Shirazmore‘I like thananywhere intheworld.Mychildhoodwashere in (Cultural HeritageOrganisation) Occupation: Lives in: Age: PIROOZMAND VOICES OFIRAN:MAJID bas-reliefs I work with Miras FerhangiI workwithMiras andwewanttopreserve theculturalheritage. , amodernand 28 kuches Shiraz , from where , fromwhere ﻗﺮﺁﻥ Darvazeh-ye Darvazeh-ye (lanes)andthecityhasavery richhistory.Untilnowitstill Architect, consultant to Miras FeranghiArchitect, consultanttoMiras

ﺩﺭﻭﺍﺯﻩ Anvari St. Anvari St. a couple of better budget options are on in neighbouring DehnadiandPirouziSts; The cheapest placesare mainly concentrated BUDGET Pasargadae. in Shiraz canarrange tripstoPersepolis and to 20%onmanyhotels. hotel Almostevery tion deskattheairportoffers discountsof up And ifyou’re arrivingbyplane,thereserva- knock afew theprice outof rialoff season. is keen somostmanagers willbehappy to a roomawayfromthestreet. Competition canbenoisy–askfor is thathotels onZand comparisons abreeze. Themaindownside tend tobe clustered bypricerange, making are They ashortwalktothemainsights. Avecated instreets leadingoff Zand and theyare stated, cities. Unlessotherwise lo- in themost confined space,of allIranian Shiraz hasprobablythebestrange of hotels, Sleeping site Jahan) ortheBagh-e Nama( opposite ). up fromeithertheAramgah-eHafez ( oppo- CENTRAL IRAN••Shiraz

275 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN St; twwith/withoutshowerIR100,000/80,000; the museum. offam Museum Art–it’sabout15mbefore andfollowthesignstoMeshkin-right turn past theImamzadehBibiDokhtar, no signinEnglish andit’shardtofind;walk There’s8am to8pm),isgoodforchilling. yard, withitsunderground (open teahouse clean twinsare goodvalueandthecourt- who like theenormousdorm.But small, by malepilgrims(notgreat forsolowomen), militiaandmainlyused owned bytheSepah atmospheric.It’s town; note wedidn’tsay is thecheapest, mostinteresting hotel in ina200-year-oldthis mehmunsara building without bathroomIR140,000/115,000; Saadi Hotel line noisyPiruzi St (askforabackroom): table. Goodupperbudget choice. reported, ‘allfourlegs’offabilliard talk friendly oldguywhocould,asone reader morefor slightly money.Themanager isa rooms, withsofter bedsandmore furniture, better has slightly door totheAnvari,Sasan 276 IR160,000; most likely othertravellers. tomeet solo womentravellers andtheplaceyou’re consistently convivialatmosphere. Idealfor hasa for themoneyand,mostimportantly, like theplace. enough It’sclean,comfortable modest, four-storey Anvari,butalmostall .com; Anvari St;s/d/trUS$15/20/24; .com; Anvari dase; dm/twIR20,000/60,000) trips. ontransportandflogstheusualday advise English-speaking managerseveral. Rezacan somedon’thavesame, atoilet–lookat while allroomswith‘bathrooms’costthe rooms. They’re adequate, butnote that forthequalityofbe said, thesmall,boxy popular withbudgeteers butnot,itmust Hotel, haslongbeen theEsteghlal the Zand guests andafree washingmachine. (limited) courtyardparking,akitchen for It’s popularwithoverlanders ithas because with orwithoutshowers (toiletsare shared). hasultra-basic, reasonably cleanrooms Zand lumpy beds. 0,000) Boxy, noisybutcleanrooms andshared bathrooms, Zand Hotel FadaghMehmunsara o If theotherplaces are full,no-frills hotels Sasan Hotel Esteghlal Hotel Esteghlal Anvari Hotel Anvari CENTRALIRAN••Shiraz a ( x )

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( 222 5126;s/tw/trIR70,000/110,000/13 x 222 2949; [email protected]; Dehnadi Dehnadi 222 2949;[email protected];

( x 233 7830;sasanhotel@shirazsport ( x 222 7728;DehnadiSt;twwith/ ( x 233 7591; Anvari St;tw233 7591;Anvari Deep intheoldcity, Deep 222 5135;KucheMohan- a ai ) Opposite pa ) Next )

squat toilets;cleanrelatively largerooms. bathroom IR180,000/150,000; hotel.com; Azadi Blvd,offGhaem Sq;s/dUS$65/95; hotel.com; Azadi ai EizediSt;1-/2-bedaptfromUS$60; .jaamejamhotel.com; and experiencedmanagement. rooms (somewithwi-fi), adecentrestaurant with large, andthrough, through bright star lovely Jahan Bagh-e Nama. It’ssolidthree- rooms are inaquietlocationopposite is worthwhile. is worthwhile. include breakfast and,atmost,bargaining the placestolookformidrange options.Rates Rudaki Ave andtheadjoiningEizediStare MIDRANGE Sina Hotel pai Hafez St,s/d/ste/aptUS$45/65/110/150;yahoo.com; Ave;.aryohotel.com; Rudaki s/d/steUS$45/65/97; discounts are season. possibleoff with MiniMe–sized bathtubs.Significant ingly smallandspotlesslycleanbathrooms, around anatriumandhave correspond- small buttastefully furnishedroomsare set fairpricesandmodernrooms.The service, intelligent, smilingandextravagantly coiffed The Aryoisafavourite amongreaders forits pai ZandBlvd;s/dUS$45/55; Khan-e .eramhotel.com; Karim Great value. way; wewere offered an apartment forUS$40. comeyour niceandabigdiscountmight Be are professional. and management andservice wing, openedin2007.Thelocation isquiet, smaller roomsinthePersepolis-inspired new ments inthefour-year-old ‘old’wingand energy-saving measures. and goodvalue–hasembracedsome dependable,friendly,central comfortable, here are alsogood.In short, theEramis ner) isrefreshingly varied,andthemains to IR70,000;openbreakfast, lunch anddin- (mealsIR35,000 NazRestaurant the Sarve minibar andsatellite TV. breakfast Buffet in and reasonably well-equippedwithphone, in thenewwing(specifythem)are big,quiet guys atreception thetone. Rooms whoset relaxed andit’sthe butprofessional service, ters andemailscomplimentingtheEram’s o o Jaam-e-Jam Apartment Hotel Hotel Apartment Jaam-e-Jam Park Saadi Hotel Park SaadiHotel Persepolis Hotel Persepolis Hotel Aryo Barzan Hotel Hotel Aryo Barzan Shiraz EramHotel ) Choose between thesprawling apart- between Choose ) ( ) TheSaadi’s52newlyrefurbished x Foryears we’ve getting been let- 222 5665;Piruzi St;twwith/without Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book ( x ( x 227 4901-19;parksaadi_hotel@ 229 5370-73; www.persepolis

a ( x ( x ) Good beds, fridge and ) Goodbeds,fridge 230 0814-16;www 224 7182-4;www ( x 230 4002;www ai )

IR20,000-40,000; pais Fam.com; Meshkin St;s/d/stewithbreakfast US$90/120/175; US$81/117/186; ternational-hotel.com; ZandBlvd;s/d/stewithbreakfast is big and the food unsophisticated but very is bigand thefoodunsophisticated but very men, and womenandfamilies. Themenu for tious, neon-lithall dividedintosections Gavara isanold-style local–anunpreten- .com; Rudaki Ave;.com; Rudaki 1/2-bedaptUS$100/150; ais There are someexcellentIranianrestaurants. RESTAURANTS the winethatinspired Hafez topoetry. Shiraz (Syrah)grapeisnolonger made into on yourown.Sadlytheworld-famous leave youtofindthepizzaandburger joints We’ve listed thebestplacesandwillmostly food withanalmostembarrassingrelish. Shirazis have embracedWestern-style fast Shiraz isnoted asa butculinary capital Eating Hotel Hadish Apartment TOP END Parsian Hotel rooms, good beds, decent service. rooms, goodbeds,decentservice. Ave;Rudaki r/steUS$66/100; value. Discountsare possible. Zand Blvd;s/dUS$27/40; a decentchoice. Thepool ismen-only. city, andPark-e Azadiinparticular,make it andviewsover the rants, front-deskservice –looktired. Butthelocation, restau-the staff its age someof andtherooms–indeed halved bargaining). after about10seconds’ most timesare happytodiscount(rates were whoat ing forthevalueandfriendlystaff, fully equippedkitchens. They’re mostappeal- big apartmentshere are abitaustere buthave those upperfloorsthose offer panoramicviews. internet; it’sonlyavailable inthelobby)and Rooms are there’s wellequipped(though no business hotel isprobablythebestintown. Kowsar Hotel available; first. ifnot,tryAryoBarzan can be‘booked’ after 11pm.Discountsare isenthusiasticandthepool rooms. Service ern-looking andwell-equipped,ifnothuge, Gavara Restaurant Restaurant Gavara Pars International Hotel Hotel Pars International Homa Hotel If those areIf those full: Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels your stay Book )

Opened in2006,thishasmod- ( ( ) h

x x The ’70s-era Homa is showing The’70s-eraHomaisshowing pais ( x 11am-10pm) 230 0207; [email protected]; 230 0207;[email protected]; 233 0000;www.parsian-hotel.com; 222 8000-09;www.homahotelgroup ai ( x ( x pai ( 222 7211;Piruzi St;meals x 235 1988;www.hadishhotel ) Oldbutreasonable The subterranean The subterranean ) 233 2255;www.pars-in This four-star pai ) Compact ) Compact ) The The nid-style staircase beneath the Saadi Hotel. beneaththeSaadiHotel. nid-style staircase IR30,000; St, off Azadi Blvd;mealsIR80,000; St, offAzadi man incostumeoutside anarcade. Bazaar. There’s no English sign;look forthe diagonally opposite theentrance totheVakil was well-prepared, andplentiful.It’s tasty space.two-level Great fun!TheIranianfood playing traditionalmusicinthecentre of the singing andclappingalongwithmusicians the proverbial froginasock,withdiners we ate attheSharzeh like itwasgoingoff IR35,000; & 8-11pm) St,offZandAve;1963; Vakil mealsIR65,000; meals IR55,000; bridge; Maliabad St,after Abad,Dinakan 715 2059;Mansour white acrossthefrontwall. horse ridinga no English sign;lookforHossein tive tokababs(which italsohas).There’s stew) make(eggplant arefreshing alterna- (rice andtomato) acter, theYavar isexcellent. The ditional Shirazi food,localpricesandchar- ahead andget theaddress sorted. ofbecause licensingissues, soalwayscall opened, andthatbothare periodicallyclosed Yordhas rare Weheardasecond indeed. outhere astaxis are(about IR70,000total) towaitforyou also worthpayingthetaxi Farsi andget (aboutIR25,000);itis ataxi port, soaskyourhotel towrite thenamein almost impossible to reach bypublictrans- life intoaQashqa’itented embrace. Yordis adreamy food afford escapefrommodern colourful costumes,live musicanddelicious the Qashqa’iculture. Thewarm atmosphere, Iranian-nomad food,butalsotoexperience only offers thechance toenjoysomefine 8km northwestof town,thiscomplexnot In anenormouscolourful Iranian food. less cheapie withalimited range of decent a decent kababs, tasty; reasonable. and openinghours convenient andprices pheric, butthefoodisdelicious,location IR25,000-50,000; Haji BabaRestaurant o o Shater Abbas Restaurant 1 Abbas Restaurant Shater Restaurant Hatam Restaurant Yavar Restaurant Yord Cultural Complex Yord Cultural Sharzeh Traditional Restaurant TraditionalRestaurant Sharzeh h h Talk about atmosphere! Thenight ghorme sabzi 11.30am-3.30pm &6.30-11pm) 11am-9pm Sat-Thu) 11am-9pm Sat-Thu) h h khoreshts, CENTRAL IRAN••Shiraz lunch &dinner,dinneronlyinwinter) 7am-11pm) (

x ( ( x . LookfortheAchaeme- x 228 7728;GhaemSq;meals fish (sometimes) and fish(sometimes)and h 222 1709;Piruzi St;meals

khoresht bademjan 233 2563; Zand Blvd; meals 233 2563;ZandBlvd;meals ( Not exactlyatmos-

x 11am-4pm & 6-11.30pm) ( yord No frills,soul- x 229 1440; Khakshenasi 229 1440;Khakshenasi 625 6774,0917 (tent) about (tent) about h eslamboli For tra- 11am-3pm 11am-3pm ( x 277 224

CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN entrance. It’s opposite theArg andbesidethemosque 9pm Sat-Thu) meals IR35,000-50,000; Vakil; Bazar-e Mehr, Seray-e traditional placewithlivemusic. Cross; mealsIR55,000; after the Bazar-e wanderingthrough Vakil. check thebillcarefully. busy. Thefoodisdecentifunadventurous; space canhave adecentatmosphere when it’s old paraphernaliahangingaboutand thebig accommodation, theArooshhas plenty of h has closed asateahouse. has closed the historicandpopularHammam-e Vakil and afew decent cafés too. Unfortunately, There are somecrackingteahouses inShiraz, TEAHOUSES &CAFÉS cream andothersuch delicacies. saucis pizzas,burgers,with placesselling hotdogs, ispacked too much tasteless Zand sausage. thick-crusted, tomato-less piestoppedwith theusualarrayof opened here serving the world.Dozensof newpizzajointshave ofShiraz justbethepizzacapital might QUICK EATS Pat TraditionalRestaurant Soofi TraditionalRestaurant sharply. Lookfortheflametorches outside. tohavePrices seem climbedwithdemand, key kababandmushroomsteak, forexample. kababs withsomelessfamiliardishes –tur- Shirazis. Themenumixes theclassicrange of that ishugely popularwithmiddle-class modern designtouches create anatmosphere and openkitchen, bustlingstaff The lowlight, 278 Shiraz that does agood linein Shiraz thatdoes most famousfaludeh(IR3000acup)shop in lar withyoung,wealthyShirazis;livemusicatnight. Fars7-11.15pm) BesidetheSetareh shoppingcentre; popu- Abad St;mealsIR50,000-80,000; like tomato and pickle (IR18,000), is good. like tomatoandpickle(IR18,000),isgood. shovelled intoabread rollwithhealthybits the of flame (twoglowingpalmtrees). Theirversion which Shirazis comelike moths toaneon midnight) o Aroosh Khorshid 110 Hamburgers Other recommendations: Mahdi Faludeh Mahdi 8am-10pm Sat-Thu) Seray-e Mehr Teahouse Mehr Seray-e CENTRALIRAN••Shiraz shwarma, (sausage) sandwiches, soft-serve ice soft-serve sandwiches, (sausage) The best, however, is this place to isthisplaceto The best,however, This is a serendipitous place to find This isaserendipitous placetofind with meat sliced off a spit and withmeatslicedoff aspitand

(Naser Khosrow St; (Naser Khosrow

h (Anvari St;mealsIR25,000; (Anvari (Dehnadi St; meals IR25,000-45,000; (Dehnadi St;mealsIR25,000-45,000; Convenient tothecheap lunch &dinner)Subterranean, ( h x

2 ( x noon-3.15pm & 235 4186;Paramount h ( 626 1573;Afif x bastani 2-10pm) 222 9572; h h , too. 11am- The The 9am- shirazairport.ir) Blvd) number modern, consumerIran. foratastehang out.Comeintheevening of where 4pm tomidnight) theyoungandhip floor foodcourt(Mexican open andChinese, (10-pin bowlingIR40,000agame!)andtop- shopping mall(lotsof labels),gamescomplex Farshead fortheSetareh CommercialMall, a great atmosphere. Forataste of modernIran, where you’llfindsomeexcellentshopsanda Mushir head toSerai is notasgreat asinEsfahan.Forhandicrafts, behs can beagoodplacetobuykilimsand cloths andrugswoven byFars nomads.Shiraz alwork andprinted cottons,especiallytable- Good buys intheBazar-e Vakil includemet- Shopping This subterranean Gate. Panoramic cityviewsatsunset. on thesideof therockyslopeabove theQuran One of three tea andqalyan littleplaces selling onqalyan. sip tea andpuff relaxedlightfully atmosphere inwhich tosit, (think hasasmallmenuof favouriteshouse tasty tea- thesplit-level MushirBazar, the Serai asmalldoorbehind Hidden awaythrough ( Shiraztween andgulfcities. airlinesoperate be- Shiraz several because orfinish It’s easytostart atriptoIranin AIR &Away There Getting rain) and Iran Air (Bahrain, Doha). rain) andIranAir (Bahrain, byGulfAir(Bah- other Gulfcitiesare served daily) andKuwait(IR882,000,daily), while Shiraztween andDubai(one wayIR820,000, ing counter offering heftydiscounts. be backbythetimeyouarrive. butshould wasclosed, writing theteahouse have preferred aglassof Shiraz. Atthetimeof cup of out withsomelive traditionalmusicanda tomb, thisteahouseisagreat placetochill still plentyof fun. as atmospherictheHafez version, butit’s x Aramgah-e Hafez Teahouse Aramgah-e Teahouse Khajo Shiraz International Airport Shiraz International aai Teahouse Sa’adi Set atthebackof thegroundof Set Hafez’s 230 8841;ZandBlvd; (traditional rugs), though the selection theselection (traditional rugs),though dizi, kubideh, zereshk polo

chay, ( x 199; hasahandy though the man himself might might themanhimself though h (Darvazeh-ye Quran; (Darvazeh-ye 8am-9pm) ( x h chaykhaneh 727 2300; Aramgah-e Sa’di) 727 2300;Aramgah-e

8am-8pm Sat-Thu) in theBazar-e Vakil, andahotel book-

(

x flight ( x lonelyplanet.com 228 4552;Golest 722 5020;http:// h

isn’tquite Iran Aseman Iran Aseman ) andade- information 11am-10pm) 11am-10pm) flies be- gab- a n h Destination Fare Duration Destination Fare Departures the only)departure timesare noted. (or justVolvo),andthemain(butusuallynot lonelyplanet.com 6pm (T8) Safar (Seiro Jonub) noon Fri) 4-11pm x (Fars Mihan) booking aheadat the If you’re schedule onatight it’sworth (Fars Mihan) 45,000 (Fars Mihan) IR85,000 Zahedan 75,000 13-17hr 7am, 9.30am (T8); Yazd IR18,000/ 1pm, (Fars Mihan) Tehran IR37,000/ 5-7hr 13-18hr hourly Tabriz 1.30pm IR115,000 2.30pm 1.30pm Sanandaj IR90,000 20hr 60,000 18hr IR85,000 Kermanshah 38,000 5-9pm 7.30am, IR45,000 Kerman 55,000 8hr 1.30pm Hamadan IR34,500/ 15hr 10hr regular IR20,000/ Esfahan 55,000 IR26,500/ 8hr Bandar Abbas Bam IR65,000 Ahvaz IR25,000/ 7-10hr 8-9hr Zahedan 7pm-9.30pm busterminal Carandish buses operate frombusy buses Most long-distance BUS &MINIBUS a travel agency ( p271 ) fortickets. prices;see destinations,forthesame same amixof the other domesticcarriers serve 4weekly 5weekly Iran Aseman, Mahan Air,Kish Airlinesand Tehran IR395,000 6 IR540,000 Mashhad several daily IR253,000 Kish IR244,000 IR289,000 IR246,000 Esfahan 5 Lengeh Bandar-e Bandar Abbas weekly daily weekly nearby Pars TouristAgency ( p271 ). etnto ae Flights Destination Fare routes. Blvd) 1.30-10pm Iran Air 8am-3.30pm) 222 3888;ZandBlvd; . Pricesare for office near thecornerof Sa’diSt, or ( x 233 0041;cnrZandBlvd&Felestin St; flies thefollowingdomestic (Terminal-e Bozorg; Salman-e Farsi Bozorg;Salman-e (Terminal-e mahmooly h Iran Peyma 7am-8pm Sat-Thu, 8am- /Volvo buses /Volvo buses 5-8pm 2pm,3pm 7.30am, (T8), 7.30am, (T8),

(Taavoni 1; (Taavoni

extensions) and Imam Hossein Sq. Sq. extensions) and ImamHossein AveZand Valiasr between Sq(goodforvisa east tonorthwest,includingastretch along at theearliest,andwillrunfromsouth- Line1willopenin2010 mainline station. including alinktothenewEsfahan–Shiraz on47kmoflines, with40stations track, includethree being builtandwilleventually probably bedroppedhere. hour;arriving fromBushehr,every you’ll (IR13,000/30,000, five hours) departatleast (IR10,000, twotothree hours) andBushehr forKazerunthe southernoutskirts.Buses Shiraz leave fromAmirKabir Terminal on from throughout theAchaemenids’from throughout empire. vast body of skilland knowledge gathered was emphatic.Persepolis is aresult of the fallen columnsattest that theendof empire empire thatbuiltit.Equally, thebroken and dominantthe this citywasandhowtotally gateways leave youinnodoubt howgrand exquisite reliefs staircases, andimposing tal History, (see demise p27 ). Themonumen- cient …and itsfinal embodies thegreatest of successes thean- Magnificent x PERSEPOLIS Chartering atIR5000. starts ply thestreets forIR1000toIR2000pertrip. favour of shinyyellowPrides.Shuttle taxis outin cucumber) isslowlybeingphased knownlocallyas taxis, Shiraz’s of fleet old,green-and-white Paykan TAXI The METRO and ifitrunsallthewayintotown. mation deskif thepublicbushas resumed, cost aboutIR15,000.Ask attheairportinfor- toorfromthecitycentreA private taxi should TO/FROM THEAIRPORT Around Getting nal, neartheriver, onasemiregular basis. from thesouthernedge of Termi- Carandish Firuz Abad (forPersepolis) andMarvdasht go Savaris forregional townssuch asBishapur, SAVARI IR5000; Buses totownswestandsouthwestofBuses 0728 / elev 1630m 0728 /elev Shiraz UrbanRailway h 7.30am-5pm Nov-Mar, 8am-6pmsummer) 7.30am-5pm Nov-Mar, CENTRAL IRAN••Persepolis Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid; admission Jamshid;admission (Takht-e mas’ khiyari

(www.shirazmetro.ir) ﭘﺮﺳﭙﻮﻟﻴﺲ (yogurt

279

is CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN polis was chosen by Cambyses II,sonof byCambyses polis waschosen thesiteSome historiansbelieve of Perse- in 1982): Persian Architecture s ophy behindPersepolis in Upham Popeablysummedupthephilo- Respectedcivilisations. scholar Arthur masterpiece of theancientNear Eastern ruined itremains thegreatest surviving in theancientworld,andwhilelargely artistic execution. international initssuperbarchitecture and It isPersian inideologyanddesign,buttruly 280 1 3 2 START PERSEPOLIS recognised assovereign value. the result of beautybeingspecifically of mere sizeandcostlydisplay;itis counterpart polis isnottheaccidental of theEgyptians. The beautyof Perse- tites, more lucidandhumanethanthat than theworkof theAssyrians orHit- building: more rationalandgracious beautyofin thenobilityandsheer the foundexpressionHumane sentiments This multiculturalconcoctionisalone CENTRALIRAN••Persepolis (250m) Bookshop Booth (250m); To Ticket 1 END 2 AC 3 4 8 (publishedbyTuttle 5 10 19 9 6 Introducing 18 7 B 11 15 17 16 12 of reputable tourguides,see p271 . (more expensive) orjustadriver. Foralist an actualguidewhospeaksyourlanguage rates; besure aboutwhetheryou’llhave ‘tours’, withpricesproportionaltoroom hotelJust aboutevery inShiraz organises Tours www.persepolis3D.com. glory, see computer illustrations of Persepolis inallits be sweltering, sobringahatandwater. For lis andfromMay untilearlyOctoberitcan revealed itsgloriesonceagain. until the1930sthatextensive excavations coveredtotally Itwasn’t bydustandsand. fact theancientcitywaslostforcenturies, their very existence isdueinparttothe shadow of Persepolis’ formerglory.But of more than150years. I,IIandIII,overII, andArtaxerxes aperiod of kings,includingXerxes Iand subsequent Itwasaddedtobyahost throne in518BC. until after DariusI(theGreat) tookthe Cyrus theGreat, butworkdidnotbegin Note thatthere islittleshade atPersepo- todayare amereThe ruinsyousee 0.1miles 100m 0 0

14

Harem Way Audience)...... Court ofApadana...... Unfinished Gate...... Hall of32Columns...... Garrison...... Palace of100Columns...... Tomb ofArtaxerxesII...... Tomb ofArtaxerxesIII...... Treasury...... Haramsara (Museum)...... Palace H...... Hadish...... ...... Grand Stairway...... Entrance...... Tripylon (XerxesHallof Staircase...... Palace...... Nations)...... pdn aae(eta al....A2 Apadana Palace(CentralHall)...... Northern StaircasetoApadana Xerxes' Gateway(GateofAll 13 lonelyplanet.com D 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 B2 B1 B1 C2 B2 C2 C3 C3 B3 B3 B3 A3 B2 B2 A2 A2 A2 A2 our list( p271 ). IR350,000. Forthebestof drivers, these see full daytoPasargadae costsIR300,000to about IR200,000toIR250,000,whilethe itusuallycostsfrom and Naqsh-eRajab, Persepolis. ToPersepolis, Naqsh-e Rostam book, orifyou’re lucky,abrochure from site withyou,soyou’llhave torely onthis full day.Thedriver usuallywon’tenter the ing driver toferry themaroundforahalfor lonelyplanet.com ( through led thedignitaries Acolytes then on displayinthemuseum. ments of oneof bronzetrumpetsare these trumpeters frag- at thetopof thestaircase; arrived, theirpresence washeraldedby the palace. elegant robescouldwalkgracefullyupinto each step wasshallowsoPersians inlong frommassive blocksof stone,but carved northwest cornerof thesite. Thestairs were via themonumental As entrytoPersepolis italwayshasbeen, is ENTERING THECITY throngs. many guides,meaningyoucanavoid the map. Thisroute isdifferent tothattaken by walking tourintheordersuggested onthe The followingdescriptionsare outlike set a Persepolis Complex The 3 ; alsoknownastheGate of AllNations), Many travellers optforanEnglish-speak- Whenever important foreign important Whenever delegations as theseburned theyheated, thenmelted, theironand lead clampsthatheld italltogether. roof. The ceilingsofmostbuildings are believed tohave beenmadefromhugetimberbeams, and a palacebuiltalmost entirely of stonecouldbeburnedtotheground, theexplanationliesin It’s quite possiblethatatother timesthebusinessofempire returned toShush. climb upfromthelevel ofthesurroundingplainandpay homage–andtribute –totheirkings. during theannualNoRuz(NewYear) camefromacrosstheempire celebration,whensubjects to showcase fortheempire, thispurpose designedtoawevisitorswithitsscale andbeauty.Itserved Babylon, (modernHamadan) andShush. outside world.The few remaining records focusinstead onotherAchaemenidcapitals,including speculation amongsomearchaeologists thattheexistence asecret ofthecitywaskept from the 330 BC.Oddly,however, Persepolis israrely mentionedbyanynameinforeign records, fuelling (City ofPersia) byAlexandertheGreat’s andDestroyerofCities–cameafter armyin itssacking the firstknownreference toitbyitsGreek nameofPersepolis –meaningbothCityofParsa ofanempire thatspreadheart fromthe IndusRiver toEthiopia. Itsoriginal namewasParsa and In itsheydayPersepolis spread over about125,000sqmetres andwas oneoffourcitiesatthe PERSEPOLIS UNDERTHEACHAEMENIANS Persepolis was burnedtothegroundduringAlexander’s visitin330BC.Ifyou’re wondering how isthatPersepolisMore certain wasbuiltontheslopesof (the Mt Rahmat Mount ofMercy)asa Grand Stairway(2) Xerxes’ Gateway Gateway Xerxes’ at the atthe probably ushered tothe PersianImportant andMedian were notables APADANA PALACE &STAIRCASE Morton Stanley. also lefttheirmark;lookforexplorer Henry have of graffitists father built.’Centuries built inthisParsa, which Ibuiltandmy thatisbeautifulwas tions Ibuilt.Much else vour of AhuramazdathisGate of AllNa- bythefa- things, that‘KingXerxes says: Elamite languages. Itdeclares, amongother tion inOldPersian, Neo-Babylonian and Above lookforacuneiforminscrip- these, ures thathave astrongAssyrian character. of Xerxes Iandisguardedbybull-like fig- monument. which is still awonderfullyimpressive of thePersians inlongrobes andtheMedes The northernpanelsrecount thereception be reached fromthePalace of 100Columns. Staircase (6) in allof Iran,are thebas-reliefs of the among themostimpressive historicalsights of withtheking. delegationstomeet dour thatmusthave accompaniedthearrival depictthescenesofwall evocatively splen- remains, thebas-reliefs alongthenorthern picture the grandeurof thepalacefromwhat to itcanbedifficult Although other staircase. by ,thepalacewasreached viaan- the south.Constructed onaterrace of stone The gateway was builtduringthetime Most impressive of and all,however, ontheeastern wall,which canalso CENTRAL IRAN••Persepolis Apadana Palace (5) Apadana Apadana 281

to to CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN dominated tohave bypalaces believed been The southwestern cornerof the site is ROYAL PALACES is known asboththe This smallbuthandsomelydecorated palace TRIPYLON (XERXES’ HALL OFAUDIENCE) herestraight whenthesite opens. is earlyinthemorning;it’sworthheading manent shelter andtheonlydirect sunlight and Medians atthetopright. uptotheElamites ans andCappadocians, peoples, Arabs,Thracians,Indians,Parthi- climbing pantheonof, amongvariousother a pians inthebottomleftcorner,through nations of thetimeranges fromtheEthio- the Achaemenid king.Thisrich record of the ing 23delegationsbringingtheirtributes to southern endare themostinteresting, show- ine, liesandearthquakes’. Thepanels at the and implores Godtoprotect itfrom‘fam- byDariusandcompletedstarted byXerxes scription announcesthatthepalacewas ones carryingtheindented shields.Anin- and Median soldiers; thePersians are the human headsandguardedbyfourPersian with wings,flanked bytwowinged lionswith deity AhuraMazda, byaring symbolised is dedicated tosymbolsof theZoroastrian soldiers. Thecentralpanelof thestaircase The stairs themselves are guardedbyPersian dresses andtheMedes intheirroundcaps. precede thePersians withtheirfeather head- chariots, whileonthelowertwotiers they valets andthehorses of theElamite kingof followed bytheroyalprocession, Ontheuppertier,theyarethe Immortals. aemenid soldiers, theImperialGuardand representations of themostelite of theAch- tiercontains Each amazingly wellpreserved. in shorter dress. Thethree tiers of figures are 282 representing aunionof nations. ther. The28have their armsinterlinked, behindhisfa- crown princeXerxes stands by therepresentatives of 28countries;the reliefs showingDariusonhisthrone,borne On thecolumnsof theeastern doorwayare sibly tomake politicaldecisions. important andcourtiersnotables ina private area, pos- ittoreceivetheories isthatthekingused unknown. Oneof themore widelyaccepted city butwhatitsexactfunctionwasremains Hall of Audience. attheheartof Itstands the Today, the staircase iscoveredToday, thestaircase byaper- CENTRALIRAN••Persepolis Tripylon

(7) and Xerxes’ andXerxes’ intensive fashion. polis wasfinished inthisexpensive, labour- wallinPerse-polished walls;almostevery lances andarrowtips.Note thehighly excavations: alabaster vessels, cedarwood, and arange of artefacts discovered during astonefoundationtablet contains museum andadministrativemuseum The offices. Restored a inthe1930s,todayithouses rooms asthenumberof subjectnations). numberof (ithasthesame ambassadors and concubinesoraresidence forvisiting is waseitheraharem fortheking’sconsorts scholarsthe kingdefeating evil, argue that Despite the depictionsaroundthedoorof most argued aboutbuildingatPersepolis. enormous scaleof Persepolis. on thehill forawhileto get afeel for the (13) ury are therock-hewntombs of all thatremain. Onthehill above theTreas- ofwalls andbases more than300columnsare to cartoffthecontents. Thefoundationsof Treasury it’sreported 3000camels heneeded of labourers. WhenAlexanderlooted the the wages Akkadian detailing of thousands gists have inElamite foundstonetablets and earliest structures atPersepolis. Archaeolo- Haremsara viastairs eastofAccessed theTripylon, HAREMSARA (MUSEUM) as the remains of anunfinished palaceknown to thetorch. Tothesouthof thesquare are whohadputAthens Xerxes as ithadbeen dling forAlexander’sgreat fire –especially askin- have might on stonebases served scholars speculate thatitswoodencolumns Some staircase. via anothermonumental palace completed byXerxes andreached isthe two palaces.Totheeast opens ontoaroyalcourtyardflanked by some of themostphoto genic. Thepalace skilledreliefsside bearhighly andare inscriptions. Thestairs onthesouthern and covered inbas-reliefs andcuneiform stillstandingits monolithicdoorjambs is easilythemoststriking,withmanyof The Xerxes. constructed duringthereigns of Dariusand nated by Darius’ The southeastern cornerof thesite isdomi- TREASURY &TOMBS Palace H(10) and Artaxerxes III(14) Artaxerxes

( 11 ; admissionIR5000; Tachara . Treasury (12) Treasury ( 8 ; orWinter Palace) . It’s worth sitting . It’sworthsitting h lonelyplanet.com 8am-5pm) , oneof the Hadish (9) Artaxerxes II II Artaxerxes isthe , a x lonelyplanet.com tion is op- theonlysleeping allowed, butotherwise intheparkinglotatPersepolisCamping is Sleeping &Eating at theTouristInformationinShiraz ( p271 ). must enter thesite by6pm.Checkthatit’son Farsi) upPersepolis lights at8.30pm.You show (IR5000;usuallyin sound andlight On summerThursday a andFridaynights SOUND &LIGHTSHOW stone columns,the almost 70msquare andsupported by100 With anextravagant square hallmeasuring PALACE OF100COLUMNS the open-air teahouse isattractive.the open-air teahouse cently restored bungalowsare fairvalue and about 1.5kmwest of Persepolis, where re- now aptlycalledthe yard infrontof thePalace of 100Columns, of theGate inthewidecourt- of AllLands, his armiesstoppedworkonalarger version menid pe 32 Columns(17) 28 subjectnations.Littleremains of the show aking,soldiers andrepresentatives of attheback(south) of doorjambs thebuilding of broken columnsremain, andreliefs onthe empire’s rested. security Animpressive array to receive elite themilitary uponwhom I.Somescholarsxerxes itwasused believe built duringthereigns of Xerxes and Arta- was thesecond-largest buildingatPersepolis, wealthy tourists. Talk aboutironic… that isIranianlife. suggested thecitywouldberestored Reports toitsoriginal luxurytohouse would berehabilitated mixofpolitics,pragmatismandideology throughtheuncomfortable rusting, withcanvasslowlydecaying,ever since. never recovered. wasaturningpointfromwhichtheshah some believe theparty Ithasstood was apublicrelations disaster. Opponentsquicklypointed and totheunnecessaryextravagance, Iranian nationalisticprideandlove oftheirmonarch.The firstwasahugesuccess,butthesecond (Europe, Oceania,Asia, Africa andAmerica),whichcametogethertoformafive-pointed star. with marblebathrooms. They were arrangedonfive streets, eachrepresenting ageographicalarea in fromMaximsParis, andmanyoftheVIPs were putupinluxurytented complete apartments, attended bydignitariesincluding60monarchsorheadsofstate, butfew Iranians. Foodwasflown the Persian monarchyin1971.The tents playedhosttoalavishandincredibly expensive party, MohammadRezaPahlaviluxurious tent tocelebrate citybuiltbyShah the2500thanniversary of Outside the entrance toPersepolis, throughthepine trees behindthetoilets,are theremains ofa THE LASTSHAH’S TENTCITY 447 4001;Takht-e JamshidBlvd;r/steUS$24/50; In late asasymbolofwasteful 2007itseemedthetent monarchy, city,solongportrayed The celebrationhadtwomainobjectives: topromote Irantotherest oftheworld,andnurture Persepolis Tourist Complex Persepolis Tourist riod. Thearrivalof Alexanderand , builtattheendof theAchae- Palace of100Columns(15) Unfinished Gate (18) Unfinished Gate

(Hotel Jahangardi; (Hotel Jahangardi; CENTRAL IRAN •• Naqsh-e Rostam & Naqsh-e Rajab Rajab Rostam&Naqsh-e CENTRAL IRAN••Naqsh-e Hall of Hall of a . ) ,

grotto , Darius I and Xerxes I (from I, Darius IandXerxes I(from Artaxerxes tombs are of tobe those believed DariusII, aboveout of high a cliff theground,four Jamshid Blvd;mealsIR30,000-50,000; 7.30am-5.30pm summer) Naqsh-e Rostam Naqsh-e Persepolis are sites Therocktombs of these Definitely worthvisitingaspartof atripto NAQSH-E ROSTAM &NAQSH-ERAJAB car toShiraz), ortryhitching. outside theentrance(aboutIR80,000 per there are alwaysplentyof vehicles lurking hours waitingtime. R to Shiraz forIR120,000,includingacoupleof Persepolis thenback andNaqshe-e Rostam, dasht toldustheywouldgo to Persepolis. Alternatively, drivers inMarv- (IR3000, 12km)orprivate (IR15,000) taxi here youshouldbeable tofindashuttle taxi where Sq.From theystopatBasij Marvdasht, the southernedge of Terminal Carandish to IR40,000 forthewholecartoPersepolis) from (IR4000, 42km,hourly)orsavari (IR8000,or fromShiraz.and localtaxi Take a get toPersepolis byacombinationof bus Tours, (see p271 to ), butit’snotdifficult Many travellers take tours orhire taxis &Away There Getting creams neartheticket canbebought office. At Persepolis snacks,drinksandice itself, Nearby, thebestrestaurant isthefaux- Parsian Restaurant Parsian Restaurant (admission IR3000; ﺭﺟﺐ are magnificent.Hewn eturning fromthesite,

ﻧﻘﺶ ( x h

h ﻭ 447 3555;Takht-e

dar baste 8am-5pm winter, 8am-5pm winter, lunch &dinner) ﺭﺳﺘﻢ minibus minibus

ﻧﻘﺶ 283

to

. CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN winter, 7.30am-5.30pmsummer) house here,house hencethe name. Great. oncehadatea- AmancalledRajab the reigns of ArdashirIandShapur the rocky hillanddepictvariousscenesfrom are hiddenfromtheroadbyfoldsof a bas-reliefsquick look.FourfineSassanian old Shiraz–Esfahan roadandiswortha onthe site toNaqsh-e Rostam theturn-off Persepolis. perseded byDarius I’smagnificentpalaceat thecityof BC, Pasargadae wasquicklysu- underCyrustheGreat inabout 546 Begun 1847m elevation PASARGADAE en route backtoMarvdasht. driver places,perhaps totake youtothese idiotic. Alternatively, negotiate withataxi enroute.Rajab Insummer,thiswouldbe atNaqsh-e stoppingoff Naqsh-e Rostam, you couldwalkthe6kmfromPersepolis to If youdon’thave avehicle andit’swinter, andNaqsh-estop atNaqsh-e Rajab. Rostam Most privatetripstoPersepolis taxi also &Away There Getting any relationship totheChristiancross. wonder whetherthisreligious symbolhas the cardinalpoints,butsomehistorians design of represents thetombssupposedly ing thesubjectnationsbelow.Thecruciform at fire altars supported byfigures represent- atPersepolis,those withthekingsstanding The reliefs above theopeningsare similarto after thevultures hadpicked themclean. nerary chambers, where boneswere stored Theopeningsleadtofu- modelled onthese. of above thelater Artaxerxes Persepolis were historians are stilldebatingthis.Thetombs although asyoulookatthecliff) left toright 284 5pm, 7.30am-5.30pmsummer) tioned whether it’s worth the effort oftioned whether it’sworth theeffort get- of Persepolis andsome travellers have ques- scriptions infrontof thetombsandreliefs. and royalceremonies; there are de- detailed depictscenesof imperialconquests the cliff tions cataloguing later Sassanian victories. later Sassanian tions cataloguing treasury. Thewallsare marked withinscrip- have anancientcalendar,orperhaps a been ple, butscholars nowargue thatitmight tobeanAchaemenidlong thought fire tem- The eight Sassanian Sassanian The eight Facing isthe thecliff Naqsh-e Rajab Naqsh-e CENTRALIRAN••Pasargadae Pasargadae Pasargadae

(admission IR2000; (admission IR3000; is about50kmnorth stone reliefs Kaba Zartosht Kaba is

directly oppo- h cut into cutinto ﭘﺎﺳﺎﺭﮔﺎﺩ 8am-5pm . Itwas h 8am- Shiraz to Sa’adatshahr, and a(very rare) taxi terminal in bus (IR11,000) fromCarandish Pasargadae (IR5000).Alternatively, take a IR10,000, 45minutes), and thenanotherto to Sa’adatshahr(also knownasSa’adatAbad; fromwherestation), youtake anothersavari 1.5km andaskfortheSadahanAsenjan (taxi tions forPersepolis ( p283 ), thenwalkanother Yazd, stoppinghere andatPersepolis. tions. Sometravellers take adriver to/from charter from Shiraz; ataxi see p271 forop- names toprevent theirdestruction. Pasargadae renamed thesites withIslamic of the Arabconquest,wheninhabitants thereferenceslieve toSolomondate from period.Localhistoriansbe- late Sassanian fromCyrus’stimeuntilthe used citadel 6000-sq-metrewas actuallyamonumental Solomon the hillbeyondis be afire temple, tomb, sundialorstore. On to Soleiman),variouslythought (Zendan-e Palace are theremains of the reads: ‘IamCyrus,theAchaemenid King’. Palace there isacuneiforminscriptionthat the AudiencePalace andinCyrus’Private uncommon blacklimestoneplinth.Inboth limestone columnsremains onits standing balconies. Incredibly, oneof white theeight hypostylehallsurroundedbysmaller high Palace Audience About 250msoutheastistherectangular main), andwideverandahs frontandback. hall of 30columns(thestumps of which re- foritsunusualH-shapedplan,central table a lonely,windsweptway. asPersepolis,preserved butisbeautifulin ting there. Thesite isnotnearly aswell nid empire. remainsinsubstantial of the earlyAchaeme- distressed theMacedonian conqueror. of AlexandertheGreat, anactthatgreatly protected, butwasplundered bythearmies period itwassurroundedbygardensand had conquered. DuringtheAchaemenid ments of allthemajor Cyrus civilisations and itsuniquearchitecture combinesele- modest rectangular burialchamber above, Plain. Itconsistsof sixstonetiers witha of Cyrus By publictransport,followtheinstruc- By fartheeasiestwaytoget here isto Another 500mnorthof Cyrus’sPrivate The austere andawesomely simple About 1kmnorthof thetombbegin stands proudlyontheMorghab stands (Takht-e Madar-e Soleiman),which Cyrus’s Private Palace Cyrus’s Private , which oncehadan18m- Throne of the Mother of oftheMother Throne Prison of Solomon ofSolomon Prison lonelyplanet.com isfirst, no- Tomb lonelyplanet.com ( and runsone-two-day to visitorsopens hisfamilyhomeinBazm Qashqa’i nomadsnorthof Shiraz. inthetents of see the ‘luxuries’youmight withfew oftents in thehillsandsurvive about ApriluntilOctober theypitch their Turkish andFarsi-speaking people. From a confederation of five groupsof Arabic, arenear Bazm nomads, hometoKhamseh 18kmfurthereast.Themountains Bazm) of village Shahthe Hamzeh (orjust Bazm buttherealBavanat, destinationhere is the north.ThemaintownisSuryan,aka to inthesouthanddeserts Mountains forest theZagros inalushvalleybetween the regionBavanat isa20km-longwalnut In aquietvalley230kmnortheastof Shiraz, BAVANAT to Abarqu/Yazd. to hitch/bus/whatever backtoShiraz oron hitching the last8km.Leave plentyof time toPasargadaeat theturn-off andwalkingor (you mayhave topayfullfare), getting out anybustowardsYazdier istaking orEsfahan or (rare) minibustheremaining 30km.Eas- US$30 each beyondthat, includingthe for oneperson, US$35for twotofive, and place (pricenegotiable). Tours costUS$40 natively, youcouldjusthangoutinhis his very basicEnglish isa problem. Alter- mer, of course). He’s alovely guy,though .com) x Abbas partKhamseh, himself Barzegar, nomad touroptions,ortryBavanatTours( below ). AlsoseeThe Bakhtiyari, p218 guide, whocantranslate andjustfindthem.Pars. TouristAgency ( p271 ) inShirazhasseveral The mensometimesweartallhatswitharoundedcrown.Toseethemit’sbesttogo a are rathersnobbishabout ofsimplerugs–the production pastoral tribes,astheyare often ontheroadfor45days. They have becomefamousfortheir in . Their migrationroutes are amongthelongestandmostdifficultofallIran’s sheep andgoatsbetweensummerwinter pastures. They ofLori. speakadialect toneartheIraqiborder,movingKhuzestan province theirherdsof andwestwardfromEsfahan ofBavanat.smaller groupssuchastheKhamseh are mostlyTurkic butthere are Qashqa’iandBakhtiyari, alsonomadicKurds,Lors,Baluchisand however, thereFor alltheirefforts, are stillaboutamillionpeoplelivingasnomadsinIran.They The 20thcenturysawtheIraniangovernment try repeatedly tosettleIran’smanynomadictribes. IRAN’S NOMADS 0752-326 2357,09173173957;www.bavanattravel tours withthenomads (insum- tostay Nomadic women wear long, colourfully layered dressesNomadic womenwearlong,colourfully withmuchjewelleryandnochadors. The Qashqa’iare basedincentralIranwhere theymove betweensummerandwinter pastures areThe concentrated Bakhtiyari inanarea extending southwardfromLorestan province to gabbeh gabbeh – Bavanat Tours ). YoucanusuallyspotQashqa’iwomenintheShirazbazaar. ﺑﻮﺍﻧﺎﺕ whichhave proved very popularwithWesterners (Iranians of the time. While crumbling, it’s not difficult of the time. While crumbling, it’snotdifficult tification reflect the lingering Parthian threat was Ardashir’sfirst, anditspositionfor- three-tiered palacemade of rockandgypsum bridge andit’sa10- or15-minute climb.This afootbridge crossingthe road.Takesee the below. You’llknowyou’re there whenyou hill withcommandingviewsinto the valley Doktar Coming fromShiraz, thefirst site is Today, it’smainlyaQashqai’ifarming town. Shirazbetween andtheancient portof Shiraf. Roadway stopontheSassanid an important FiruzAbad in the3rdcenturyBC. wasonce of empire, theSassanian ArdashirBabakan, palaces andcitywere builtbythefounder inarush togetby those toPersepolis. The around modern Firuz Abad are often missed remains Sassanian-era The monumental x FIRUZ ABAD have tohire orhitch. a taxi (see p311 ). FromSuryan,you’ll (IR200,000 oneway)ifyou’re continuingto but youcango day. There are noregular savaris toSuryan, 12.30pm, returning timesnext atthesame leave Terminal Carandish at7.30amand From Shiraz (IR12,000,three hours), buses three hours) at1pm,returning at7.30am. bus leaves Abuzar SqinYazd (IR12,000, cook – delicious food–hiswife isanaward-winning To getfirst toBazm, comeSuryan.One 0712 / pop 70,000 / elev 1330m 0712 /pop70,000elev (Maiden’s Palace), sittingatopasteep and transport. CENTRAL IRAN••Bavamat dar baste toShahr-e Babak ﺁﺑﺎﺩ

Qal’eh-e Qal’eh-e ﻓﻴﺮﻭﺯ

285 CENTRAL IRAN CENTRAL CENTRAL IRAN hangardi; and, about25km tothewest,Bishapur. At ruins of another twoancientcities: Kazerun and Bushehr are the smallbutfascinating Shiraz Just off theancientroyalroadbetween &BISHAPUR KAZERUN Alternatively, take atourordriver ( p271 ). pass Qal’eh-eDoktar. Oryoucouldhitch. Firuz Abad, astheywillbefullwhen togo Returning bysavari you’llneed theoverhead when yousee off footbridge. asktoget about 7pm.ForQal’eh-e Doktar, 80 minutes). Returning,thelastsavari leaves timesaday,ortake asavari (IR18,000, several minal toFiruzAbad (IR10,000,2½hours) ter- runfromShiraz’s Carandish Minibuses &Away There Getting priced inFiruzistheover-The onlyplacetostay Sleeping Palace Ardashir’s dirt roadfordstheTang Ab river toreach the viewsfromtopare magnificent. to imaginethepalace’soriginallayout,and 286 people wisely take adaytripfromShiraz.people wisely between FiruzAbadbetween andArdashir’sPalace. road cle. Guris about 3kmalongthesealed ‘minaret’ thatmarked thecentre of thecir- The onlyexistingbuildingisthe30m-high was ahugely ambitioustown-planningfeat. walls,Gur byhigh andseparated sectors perfectly circularplan,dividedintoequal but requires plentyof imagination.Withits its current formisanarchaeologist’s dream, (N 28°51’2.66”,E52°31’58.52”),which in FiruzAbaddetour through bytaxi. totake alengthy soyou’llneed is impassable examples.Inwinter, theTangsurviving Ab panying , are someof theearliest The architecture –remain hugelyimpressive. thetoneforallSassanian lines –which set old, itsdomes,high more secure. Given itisalmost1800years derfully refreshing springonceArdashirfelt a much granderstructure builtbesideawon- About 2kmtowardsFiruzAbad, asigned Beyond Ardashir’sPalaceBeyond ishiscity, CENTRAL IRAN •• Kazerun &Bishapur CENTRALIRAN••Kazerun iwans x Firooz Abad Tourist Inn AbadTourist Firooz 622 3699;s/dUS$25/35; and domes,withtheiraccom- (admission IR3000; iwans ﺑﻲﺷﺎﭘﻮﺭ and clean, stable andclean,stable h

pa (Mehmunsara Ja- (Mehmunsara 7.30am-sunset)

ﻭ

ﮐﺎﺯﺭﻭﻥ ) ; most Gur , p271 forguidesanddrivers. bridge about40kmwestof Shiraz. the 15-arch From Shiraz, keep aneyeoutenroute for 2½ hours) orfromBushehr, orasavari. Amir Kabir terminal inShiraz (IR10,000, Takestart. thebustoKazerun fromthe but publictransportisviablewith anearly ter (atleastIR200,000fromShiraz), taxi in summer).Atipisappreciated. the steep ascenttothecave very (start early villagers willprobablyoffer toleadyouup to avillage onyourleft,where oneof the Take theroadalongriver forabout4km you couldwalkthe5kmorsofromShapur. ting tothecave tour,but iseasiestonataxi impressive archaeological sites inIran.Get- 7m-high their uniqueinscriptions. reliefs clothes’) there are Sassanian-era several word meaning‘peoplewhowashcotton Kazerun excavated, revealing theenormous captive atBishapur. partly Thesite hasbeen feated inAD260;helived hisfinalyears a captive after theirEmperorValerian wasde- much of BishapurwasbuiltbyRomanstaken armies defeated theRomansthree times,and kings,ShapurSassannian I.Shapur andhis ofgrand capital possibly thegreatest of the mer) e Chogan the groove marksthehigh-watermark. byapowerfulfloodinthe1960s; caused groove thereliefs runningthrough was victory over Romaninvaders. Thedeep ments, Shapur’s investiture askingandhis memorating, amongotherhistoricalmo- rocky wallsbearsixlarge Gorge. AshortwalkfromBishapur, its the Shapur River Chogan inthesteep-sided the bestare nowintheLouvre. remain, Some fineIrano-Romanmosaics but which thefaithfuloncewalked andprayed. leadsundergroundstairway toapoolaround Alternatively, take aguidedtour;see toBishapuriseasiestbychar-Getting Bishapur About 4kmalongthegorge isthe The citywasoriginallyapproached along , or‘Shapur’s City’,isbetter. Itwasthe mostinteresting toarchaeologists for and nearby andnearby (the namecomesfromanancient () Statue ofShapurI (admission IR3000; Karim Khan Bridge Khan Karim Anahita’s TempleAnahita’s h

and itsawesome , oneof themost 8am-4pm, to5pmsum- bas-reliefs lonelyplanet.com , a Zand-era , aZand-era , where a Palace of Palace of com- Tang- bas- lonelyplanet.com the above - ‘Do the right thingwithourcontent.’ the above-‘Doright thetermsandconditionsonoursiteforalongerwayofsaying youknow,orresell it.See everyone site,massemailitto only. Inotherwords,pleasedon’tuploadthischaptertoapeer-to-peer Inreturn, wethinkit’sfairtoaskyouuseitforpersonal,non-commercialpurposes restricted. © LonelyPlanetPublications. iteasierforyoutouse,accessthischapter isnotdigitally Tomake © LonelyPlanetPublications

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