One of the most evocative towns in Iran, Yazd is also one of the oldest. The town has historic connections with Zoroastrianism (Mazdaism).
Naryn Castle (or Narin Qal'eh) refers to this massive fort in Meybod, known as the largest adobe fortress city in Iran after Bam Citadel. It once served as a stronghold with sophisticated plumbing and defense systems for millennia, with structures dating back to Median, Achaemenid, Sassanid, and Islamic eras.
The Milad Telecommunications Tower (Borj-e Milad) opened this week in Tehran. At 435 meters, the tower is the 4th largest in the world.
Designed by architect, Dr. Mohammad Reza Hafezi, the tower is part of the new Tehran International Trade and Convention Center. The tower has restaurants at the top with amazing views of Tehran below.
The Milad Tower is designed to withstand earthquakes of 7.5 on the Richter scale.
Don't you just love neon on cold, crisp evenings? The shop below is photocopy and print shop and above it is the phone number of a travel agency consisting only of 7s and 8s.
Kashan is known for its beautiful, restored mansions. They seem to rise out of the earth.
The still incomplete Milad Tower looks out over one of Tehran's busy public transport junctions.
Finally completed in October 2008, the Milad Tower (Borj-e Milād) is Tehran's iconic, 435-meter-tall multi-purpose tower, serving as a major telecommunications hub, cultural center, and tourist attraction, featuring observation decks, restaurants (including a revolving one), museums, and various entertainment facilities, making it the tallest tower in Iran and a symbol of modern Tehran.
Though Masuleh is one of Iran’s most valued architectural treasures it is also one of its humblest. Here it is not the sweeping vision of a master architect or the glory of a great king that tourists flock to appreciate, but the simplicity of a traditional village in a spectacular location untouched by the modern age.
Masuleh is located about a one and a half hour drive away from the city of Rasht, less than an hour away from Fumn, in the foothills of Mount Talesh. In fact, the village literally grips the mountainside, hanging on as if it were in danger of plunging into the river at its foot.
The architectural style that makes Masuleh special can be seen elsewhere in Iran but not so perfectly preserved. In order to accommodate houses, a bazaar, 18 mosques and all the facilities of a village of just under 2,000 inhabitants, the roofs of many buildings double up as the streets of the level above.
The height difference between the lowest and the highest points of this stepped village is about 100 metres. The car park at river level is as far up as motor vehicles can go – this being the only village in Iran in which automobiles are completely banned.
Much is being done in Masuleh to maintain buildings in the old ways. Every year walls get a fresh coating of mud, giving the whole village an organic feel - as if the buildings have grown out of the earth of the streets.
At the heart of the town is the bazaar which is a lively nest of alleys and stairways with cubby-hole shops selling a wide variety of handicrafts, freshly-baked sweets, a worrying preponderance of knives and all weaves and colours of silk scarves. One level above the bazaar are a number of restaurants and teahouses where you can lunch on kabab followed by tea and gheliyoon.
Stray up further and your chances increase of having a grumpy local chide you for not sticking to the "tourist areas". Not everybody here is glad of the attention that their picturesque little town brings. However, most of Masuleh’s inhabitants welcome the interest in their village and some even open their homes to guests for meals or overnight stays.
Books on Iran - Fiction, Politics, History, Islam
© Iranvisitor.com
By Arthur Upham Pope
With the history of Persia as long as the history of mankind itself, it is no surprise that its architectural legacy should be one of the richest in the world.
It is perhaps only the relative inaccessibility of Iran's architectural treasures in recent years that has caused Persian architecture to be less well regarded in comparison with that of other great civilisations. However, what is clear from the rich yet concise tour offered by Arthur Pope's "Introducing Persian Architecture", is that Persian architecture can be compared to that of Ancient Greece and Egypt without any hint of inferiority.From the ziggurat of Chogha Zambil, through to the noble ruins of the pre-Islamic Persian Empire and all the way up to the mosques and palaces of Isfahan and Shiraz, Pope cuts a great sweep through 3,000 years of history without losing his focus on the finer points of construction and ornamentation that made up his life's work.
It is in itself an achievement for such a learned and passionate scholar to condense his knowledge in a volume so well-organised and accessible for the newcomer. Numerous plates, including full colour photographs and architectural plans are conveniently cross-referenced with the text throughout the book.
Now more than 35 years old, "Introducing Persian Architecture" remains one of the best companions one could possibly have on an architectural tour of Iran. For even a short visit to Isfahan and Shiraz the cost and effort of obtaining a copy would be repaid many times over. Having picked an almost mint copy of the 1976 edition in a dusty Tehran bookshop for next to nothing, it seems likely that second-hand copies are widely available.
Introducing Persian Architecture
By Arthur Upham Pope
