IRAN/PERSIA

[BaRrZaKh]

Originally Posted by TEHR_IR

Tabriz, Iran

This is the famous historical building of Elgoli in Tabriz:

big difference in 5, 6 yeras:

[christos-greece]

The changes are big indeed

[TEHR_IR]

Originally Posted by BaRrZaKh

big difference in 5, 6 yeras:

Thanks , yes now it looks like Tehran a little bit and btw HaPpY-BiRtHdAy xXx

[TEHR_IR]

Mashad, Iran



Mashhad (Persian: مشهد, literally the place of martyrdom) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia world. It is located 850 kilometers (500 miles) east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its population was 2,427,316 at the 2006 population census.

Now Mashhad is notably known as the resting place of the Imam Reza (Ali ibn Musa al-Rida). A shrine was later built there to commemorate the Imam, which in turn gave rise to increasing demographic development

History and notable events

In the beginning of the 9th century (3th century AH) Mashhad was a small village called Sanabad situated 24km away from Tus. There was a summer palace of "Hamid ibn Qahtabi", the governor of Khorasan. In 808 when Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph, was passing through there to settle down the insurrection of "Rafi ibn Leith" in Transoxania, he became ill and died. He was buried under the palace of Hamid ibn Qahtabi. Several years later in 818 Imam Reza was martyred by Al-Ma'mun and was buried beside the grave of Harun.

After this event this place was called as Mashhad al-Rida (the place of martyrdom of Ali al-Rida). Shias and sunnis started visiting there for pilgrimage of his grave. By the end of the 9th century a dome was built on the grave and many buildings and Bazaars sprang up around it. During more than a millennium it has been devastated and reconstructed several times.

It was not considered a great city until Mongol raids in 1220 which caused the destruction of many large cities in the Greater Khorasan territories, leaving Mashhad relatively intact. Thus the survivors of the massacres migrated to Mashhad. When the famous world traveller Ibn Battuta visited the town in 1333, he reported that it was a large town with abundant fruit trees, streams and mills. A great dome of elegant construction surmounts the noble mausoleum, the walls being decorated with colored tiles.

Later on, during the Shahrokh era, it became one of the main cities of the Timurid dynasty. In 1418 his wife Goharshad funded the construction of an outstanding mosque beside the shrine, which is known as Goharshad Mosque. The mosque remains relatively intact to this date, its great size an indicator to the status the city held in the 15th century.

Shah Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, conquered Mashhad after the death of Husayn Bayqarah and the decline of the Timurid dynasty. Mashhad was later captured by the Uzbeks during the reign of Shah Abbas I, only to be retaken by the Shah Abbas in the year of 1597 after a long and severe struggle, defeating the Uzbeks in a great battle near Herat as well as managing to drive them beyond the Oxus River.

Shah Abbas I wanted to encourage Iranians to go to Mashhad for pilgrimage. he himself is known to have walked from Isfahan to Mashhad. During the Safavid era Mashhad gained even more religious recognition, becoming the most important city of the Greater Khorasan as several Madrasah and other structures were built beside the shrine of the Imam Reza.

Besides its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as well. It saw its greatest glory under Nadir Shah, ruler of Iran from 1736 to 1747 and also a great benefactor of the shrine of the Imam Reza, making the city his capital. It remained the capital of the Afsharid dynasty until Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar conquered the then larger region of Khorasan in 1796.

In 1912, the sanctuary of the Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian forces, causing widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world.

1935 Imam Reza shrine rebellion

In 1935 a backlash against the modernizing, anti-religious policies of Reza Shah erupted in the Mashed shrine. Responding to a cleric who denounced the Shah's heretical innnovations, corruption and heavy consumer taxes, many bazaaris and villagers took refuge in the shrine, chanted slogans such as `The Shah is a new Yezid.` For four full days local police and army refused to violate the shrine and the standoff was ended when troops from Azerbaijan arrived and broke into the shrine, killing dozens and injuring hundreds, and marking a final rupture between Shi'ite clergy and the Shah.

Religious minorities

Though primarily a Muslim city, Mashhad has harbored a number of religious minorities over the centuries. Among these were Jews, who in 1839 were forcibly converted to Islam. However, in truth they lived a double life: outwardly they conformed to Islamic ways, and were known as "Jadid al-Islam" or "New Muslims," but secretly they preserved a Jewish identity and Jewish traditions.

There was a Jewish district in Jennat Street. Jennat Street where the most prestiges shopping centers of Mashhad located at the time and was one the most expensive places of Mashhad.

The Bahá'í Faith has a history of victory and religious persecutions in this city. The latest was the executions of two Baha'is in 1998

Current religious situation

Today the holy shrine and its museum hold one of the most extensive cultural and artistic treasuries of Iran, in particular manuscript books and paintings. Several important theological schools are associated with the shrine of the Eighth Imam.

The second largest holy city in the world, Mashhad attracts more than 20 million tourists and pilgrims every year, many of whom come to pay homage to the Imam Reza shrine (the eighth Shi'ite Imam). It has been a magnet for travellers since medieval times. It is said that the rich go to Mecca but the poor journey to Mashhad. Thus, even as those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca receive the title of Haji, those who make the pilgrimage to Mashhad – and especially to the Imam Reza shrine – are known as Mashtee, a term employed also of its inhabitants. It is thought that over 20 million Muslims a year make the pilgrimage to Mashhad.

Attractions

Apart from Imam Reza shrine there is a number of beautiful large parks, the tombs of historical celebrities in nearby Tus and Neyshabour, the tomb of Nadir Shah and Kooh Sangi park and Mellat Park that have modern attractions for children such as the biggest ferris wheel or fanfar (چرخ و فلک) in Iran and Koohestan Park-e-Shadi Complex that includes a zoo, where many wild animals are kept and which attracts many visitors to Mashhad. It is also home to the Mashhad Airbase (formerly Imam Reza airbase), jointly a military installation housing Mirage aircraft, and a civilian international airport.

Some points of interest lie outside the city: the tomb of Khajeh Morad, along the road to Tehran; the tomb of Khajeh Rabi' located 6 kilometers north of the city where there are some inscriptions by the renowned Safavid calligrapher Reza Abbasi; and the tomb of Khajeh Abasalt, a distance of 20 kilometers from Mashhad along the road to Neishabur. (The three were all disciples of Imam Reza).

Among the other sights are the tomb of the great poet Ferdowsi in Tus, 24 kilometers distance, and the summer resorts at Torghabeh, Torogh, Akhlamad, Zoshk, and Shandiz.

The Shah Public Bath, built during the Safavid era in 1648, is an outstanding example of the architecture of that period. It was recently restored, and is to be turned into a museum.
















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Tomb of Ferdowsi

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


Ferdowsi was born in 935 in a village near Tus, in Greater Khorasan (now part of the Iranian province Razavi Khorasan).

The son of a wealthy land owner, his great epic, the Shāhnāmeh ("The Epic of Kings"), to which he devoted more than 35 years, was originally composed for presentation to the Samanid princes of Khorasan, who were the chief instigators of the revival of Iranian cultural traditions after the Arab conquest of the seventh century.

Front facade of the Ferdowsi's mausoleum in Toos. The tomb was made during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi by the national heritage association.When he was just 23-years old, he found a “Shāhnāmeh” written by Abu-Mansour Almoammari; it was not, however, in poetic form. It consisted of older versions ordered by Abu-Mansour ibn Abdol-razzagh. The discovery would be a fateful moment in the life of the poet. Ferdowsi started his composition of the Shahnameh in the Samanid era in 977 A.D. During Ferdowsi’s lifetime the Samanid dynasty was conquered by the Ghaznavid Empire.

After 30 years of hard work, he finished the book and two or three years after that, Ferdowsi went to Ghazni, the Ghaznavid capital, to present it to the king. There are various stories in medieval texts describing the lack of interest shown by the new king, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, in Ferdowsi and his lifework. According to historians, Mahmud had promised Ferdowsi a dinar for every distich written in the Shahnameh (60,000 dinars), but later retracted and presented him with dirhams (20,000 dirhams), which were at that time much less valuable than dinars (every 100 dirhams worth 1 dinar). Some think it was the jealousy of other poets working at the king’s court that led to this treachery; the incident encouraged Ferdowsi's enemies in the court. Ferdowsi rejected the money and, by some accounts, he gave it to a poor man who sold wine. Wandering for a time in Sistan and Mazandaran, he eventually returned to Tus, heartbroken and enraged.

He had left behind a poem for the King, stuck to the wall of the room he had worked in for all those years. It was a long and angry poem, more like a curse, and ended with the words:

"Heaven's vengeance will not forget. Shrink tyrant from my words of fire, and tremble at a poet's ire."

Ferdowsi is said to have died around 1020 in poverty at the age of 90, embittered by royal neglect, though fully confident of his work’s ultimate success and fame (clearly seen especially in last verses of his book). One tradition claims Mahmud re-sent the amount promised to Ferdowsi’s village, but when the messengers reached his house, he had died a few hours earlier. The gift was then given to his daughter, since his son had died before his father at the age of 37. However, his daughter refused to receive the sum, thus making Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh immortal.

Later the king ordered the money be used for repairing an inn in the way from Merv to Tus, named “Robat Chaheh” so that it may remain in remembrance of the poet. This inn now lies in ruins, but still exists.


Some say that Ferdowsi's daughter inherited her father's hard earned money, and she built a new and strong bridge with a beautiful stone caravanserai nearby for travellers to rest and trade and tell stories.

Ferdowsi was buried at the yard of his own home, where his mausoleum now lies. It was not until Reza Shah Pahlavi's rule, in 1925, that a mausoleum was built for the great poet

[alitezar]

Awesome Mashahd pix and intro. Thanks

[noonghandi]

Mashad looks great.

[BaRrZaKh]

Originally Posted by TEHR_IR

Thanks , yes now it looks like Tehran a little bit and btw HaPpY-BiRtHdAy xXx

thank you man
how did you see it was my birthday?

[TEHR_IR]

Originally Posted by BaRrZaKh

thank you man
how did you see it was my birthday?

if you look down on the skyscrapercity site you can see al the persons their birthday

[christos-greece]

Awesome pics

[McGrupp34]

really great thread you got here. My roommate just walked in and asked what I was looking at, said it was gorgeous... I told him and he was quite pleasantly surprised...

[noonghandi]

I missed seeing Ferdowsi tomb when I lived in Iran.
Next time I am there, I am not going to miss it.

[alitezar]

Is Almase Shargh in Mashad a shopping center? It looks very nice

[TEHR_IR]

yes

[alitezar]

Isfahan, one of the most beautiful and most visited cities in Iran
Also known as Half of the World and is considered the Florence of Middle East, but it's bridges are more nice and impressive than the ones in Florence IMO

Aerial shot of Isfahan's City Center



one of the two most famous bridges of Isfahan

Sio-Se Pol = 33 Bridges

by Carmelo









by San



Khajoo Birdge, another beautiful bridge of the Isfahan









Naghshe Jahan sqaure= Art of the World Sqaure

The second biggest square in the world after the one located in beijing









Chehel Sotoon



beautiful Shah Abbas Hotel

[christos-greece]

Those bridges are awesome

[shugs]

I love that tea house on the water.. been there twice, good tea and shisha!

[AR86]

yes indeed this tea house is just lovley, we use to spend alot of quality time there in summer.

[TEHR_IR]

Kashan



Kashan is a city in the province of Isfahan, Iran. It had an estimated population of 272,359 in 2005.

The etymology of the city name comes from Kasian, the original inhabitants of Kashan whose remains are found at Tapeh Sialk dating back 9,000 years over mellenia this changed to kashian and the the town became kashan.the Persian word Kashi, which translates into the English word tile. Kashan is the first of the large oases along the Qom-Kerman road which runs along the edge of the central deserts of Iran. Its charm is thus mainly due to the contrast between the parched immensities of the deserts and the greenery of the well-tended oasis.

Archeological discoveries in the Sialk Hillocks which lie 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Kashan reveal that this region was one of the primary centers of civilization in pre-historic ages. Hence Kashan dates back to the Elamite period of Iran. The Sialk ziggurat still stands today in the suburbs of Kashan after 7000 years.

The artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Iran's National Museum.

By some accounts - though not all - Kashan was the origin of the three wise men who followed the star that guided them to Bethlehem to witness the nativity of Jesus, as recounted in the Bible. Whatever the historical validity of this story, the attribution of Kashan as their original home testifies to the city prestige at the time the story was set down.
Teemcheh-e-Amin o Dowleh, Kashan Bazaar, Iran. 1800s. Persian architects used these structures to naturally decrease temperatures, regulate sunlight, and ventilate the interior spaces during the daytime.

Abu-Lu'lu'ah/Pirouz Nahāvandi, the Persian soldier who was enslaved by the Islamic conquerors and eventually assassinated the caliph Umar al-Khattab in 23 AH (644–645) CE, reportedly fled to Kashan after the assasination and lived there some years before being finally caught and executed. His tomb is one of Kashan's conspicuous landmarks (see gallery below).

Sultan Malik Shah I of the Seljukid dynasty ordered the building of a fortress in the middle of Kashan in the 11th century. The fortress walls, called Ghal'eh Jalali still stand today in central Kashan.

Kashan was also a leisure vacation spot for Safavi Kings. Bagh-e Fin (Fin Garden), specifically, is one of the most famous gardens of Iran. This beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings have been substantially replaced and rebuilt by the Qajar dynasty although the layout of trees and marble basins is close to the original. The garden itself however, was first founded 7000 years ago alongside the Cheshmeh-ye-Soleiman. The garden is also notorious as the sight of the murder of Mirza Taghi Khan known as Amir Kabir, chancellor of Nasser-al-Din Shah, Iran's King in 1852.

The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, leaving 8000 casualties. But the city started afresh and has today become a focal tourist attraction via the numerous large houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrating the finest examples of Qajari aesthetics.

Kashan today

Although extremely wealthy in terms of tourism potentials, the city remains largely undeveloped in this sector. However, hundreds of foreign tourists from all over the world visit this historical city every year. Qamsar and Abyaneh are notable towns around Kashan, attract tourists year around. An incredible man made cave and a historical fireplace in the town of Niasar, near Kashan, are also notable although not known for tourists.

Nevertheless Kashan is internationally famous for manufacturing carpets, silk and other textiles. Kashan today houses most of Iran's mechanized carpet-weaving factories, and has an active marble and copper mining industry.

Kashan is connected via freeways to Isfahan and Natanz to the South, and Qom, which is an hour drive away to the north. Kashan and suburbs have a population of 400,000.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[TEHR_IR]

Originally Posted by christos-greece

Awesome pics

Thanks

[alitezar]

Wow Merci