Bojnurd

Bojnurd

Bojnurd is the capital of the North Khorasan province in northeastern Iran. The city of Bojnurd is located north of the Alborz mountain range and south of the Kappe Daq Mountains. In the northwest area, present-day Bojnurd, there is a hill that has been home to several historical works. The history of this city dates back to the Sassanid period. Then the city became home to various mystical and scientific figures. Due to the emergence of many towns around this city, Bojnurd is one of the main tourist destinations in Iran.

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Persepolis

Persepolis (Takht-e- Jamshid)

It is one of the great wonders of Iran. Impressive ruins steeped in the history of the mighty Achaemenid empire. The Persians called the city Parseh, while the Greeks called it Persepolis whose meaning is the city of the Persians. Darius I began the construction of this palatial city in 518 b. C., inspired by those buildings so typical of Mesopotamia, and continued for about 120 years by his successors and later kings. Persepolis covers an area of ​​125,000 square meters, built on an artificial terrace of which some still some platforms survive forming four different levels. The building’s rocks weigh more than 250 tons. According to some discoveries, these rocks had been extracted from mines and transferred to this city and from all nations such as Iranians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Elamites and Assyrians, people came to cooperate in the construction of the Achaemenid palaces.

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Abyaneh

Abyaneh

One of the most charming and ancient towns in the country is located in the province of Isfahan, 40 km from Natanz. This village, considered one of the highest on the outskirts of Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), is built at different levels on the slope of the Karkas Mountains.

In the past, the town used to be called Viuna or Vianeh whose meanings are willow and willow zone, respectively.

The historical monuments of the town of Abyaneh consist of 11 ancient mosques, Zoroastrian temples, three castles and a spectacular cemetery. Among the mosques, the oldest belongs to the Seljuk era, year 477 in the lunar calendar, whose altar has been carved with Kufic script.

Regarding the language, the locals speak Persian with a dialect of its own originating from the Pahlavi language, the language of the Sassanid empire.

The town is characterized by the reddish hue of the houses in a tiered structure and the traditional clothing with colorful patterns of its inhabitants.

Ardabil

Ardabil

Ardebil, capital of the province of the same name, whose prominent archaeological sites and pleasant, cool climate during spring and summer attract many tourists annually, is located in northwestern Iran. The language spoken in Ardebil is Azeri from the Oghuz branch. Ardebil contains 8 hot springs and the Sabalan stratovolcano with a height of 4848 meters of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range is located in this province. Among the tourist charms of this province we can mention: the mausoleum of Sheikh Safi Al Din, the church of Santa Maria, the caravanserai Shah Abbasi, Shorabil Lake, Khosro Castle, Dokhtar Castle, and the lovely vaulted bazaar.

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Hamedan

hamedan - hamadan

Hamadan (Hegmataneh)

Hamedan, the first capital of the Medes, was founded in the 7th century BC. by order of the first king of Iran, Deioces. The Medes called this city Hegmataneh, while the Greeks called it Ecbatana, which means meeting place, where they met and chose Deioces as the first king of Media. The minority of the population of Hamedan was made up of Christians and Jews for the reason that the tomb of Esther and Mordechai, two Jewish characters whose tomb is the most important pilgrimage site for Jews in the country, is located in this city.

Among the Hamedan handicrafts, one can refer to pottery dating back seven centuries. The cities of Hamedan and Lalejin are the centers of pottery made in Iran.

Initially, the western borders of the independent Median principalities did not extend much beyond the western borders of the Hamedan plain. Its original territory of communication, as the Assyrians knew it during the period between the last third of the 9th century and the beginning of the 7th century BC., was very delimited by the north and the northwest. The Medes had no choice but to expand their territory to the southwest and occupied the Zagros valley.

This city is famous for the great scholars who were born and raised in it, such as Baba Taher, Mirzadeh Eshqi and Avicenna.

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Kashan

Kashan

One of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Iran is thousands of years old. The Sialk Hills, about 3 kilometers west of Kashan, claim that this region was one of the first settlements of humans in Prehistoric times when they built houses using clay and mud. As Kashan has a desert climate and very hot summers, its houses are built in a special way to make it easy to cool or heat the rooms depending on the season. Kashan is an oasis in the Kavir desert where high quality rose water gushes and its carpets and handicrafts are known all over the world. Among the historical monuments of this city we can mention: Mir Emad Mosque, Jomeh Mosque, Agha Bozorg Mosque and Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse.

During the Seljuk dynasty the city was known for its carpets, fabrics and glazed terracotta tiles with metallic reflections, the famous Kashi. Preserved by the Mongols (13th century) and the Tamerlane army (14th century), Kashan benefited from the Safavid kings (1503-1722), who stimulated its commercial and artisan development. Shah Abbas II (1642-1666) chose this city as the Safavid capital. However, the Afghan invasion in the early 18th century and earthquakes prevented its prosperity.

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Masouleh

Masouleh

A mountain village on the rocky slopes in the southwest of Guilan province, 60 km from the town of Rasht. The peculiar style of this village, belonging to the Zandie era, makes the roof of the lower house the courtyard of the upper house and the front areas of the houses and roofs are used as sidewalks. The mild and pleasant climate, the pristine nature and wonderful panoramic views, as well as its unique architecture attract thousands of tourists annually. The highlights of this village are its yellow houses falling down the hillside, a not very high waterfall, the narrow streets and stone steps and a green mosque. This ancient town has an area of ​​10,000 square meters and is 1,050 meters above sea level. Here, some ceramic works and other metal tools belonging to the 5th-8th centuries AD have been discovered. C, which attest that there was an iron furnace at Masuleh that used to be the center of metallurgy. There are many souvenir shops and locals that rent traditional clothes to take pictures. Masuleh is the place where you can discover postcard images in every corner.

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Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great

The founder of the Persian Empire

(An empire that at its peak ruled in 50% of the world population at the time.)

Lived in the 6th century BC, Cyrus II the Great was an extraordinary character, celebrated by the ancients for his great deeds. He conquered Media, Lydia and the Babylonian Empire, giving birth to the Persian Empire. During his reign the Jews, deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, were able to return to Palestine.

History and legend

Cyrus was born Mandane, daughter of Astyages king of the Medes, and Cambyses, king of the Persians. Herodotus tells how, at the birth of Cyrus, some premonitory dreams had announced to Astiage that his nephew would dominate Asia. Astiage, fearful, gave orders to the faithful Arpago to put down the child. Harpagus, however, would not do such a crime and gave the baby to a shepherd because he abandoned the mountains, exposed to wild beasts. But the pastor, his wife having given birth to a dead baby in those days, he decided to raise the little Cyrus to Harpagus showing the body of her dead son. The child’s reason abandoned to wild beasts, or the current because predestined by the oracles to extraordinary events, is among many peoples: the oldest we know is related to King Sargon (Mesopotamia), who founded the empire of Akkad, but also remember Paride , son of the king of Troy Priam, and Oedipus of Thebes, in addition to the most famous cases of Moses and the twins Romulus and Remus. Astyages, Cyrus met a youth, he knew immediately that his command had been disregarded, but it was too late. When Cyrus, who succeeded his father in 558 BC, rebelled and waged war on the Medes, Astiage was defeated (550 BC) and lost the throne. From this moment it was the Persians who dominated the Medes.

The first years of the reign

In 559, on the death of Cambyses I, Ciro became Great King, despite being still a vassal of the Medes. Ciro was king of Anšan, where the ancient military traditions that the Medes were losing were preserved. As soon as he ascended the throne, Cyrus tried to strengthen his family’s power over the other Persian tribes and to do this he relied on the new king of Babylon, Nabonidus, who intended to expand his empire to the east and overthrow the Medes. With the passage of time, Nabonidus succeeded to feed the uprising of Cyrus against Medi. In fact, now that the struggle between the Persian tribes was almost extinguished, Cyrus cast his shadow on the Medes of Astiage, who could no longer count on a strong army. In addition, all the local populations were not solidly linked to the king of the kings of Media, who had great difficulty in governing the empire. Astyages, son of Cyaxares did not enjoy his father’s charisma or even his diplomatic vision. The old king of the Medes, in fact, had been the promoter, as we read in the text of Herodotus, of a system of “balance of powers” ante litteram between the regional powers, in order to maintain the status quo and prevent the rebirth of hegemonic power such as Assyria which had just been overthrown (614 BC – 609 BC). Such assigned policy, in practice, the “areas of influence” with the following powers: Media (expansion into India and Pamir), Egypt (expansion towards Nubia and Libya), Babylon (expansion to Arabia), Sparta (expansion towards Greece and the Balkans), Lydia (expansion towards the Caucasus and Crimea). Ciro, relying now on one, now on the other regional power, managed to subdue them all, one at a time.

The conquest of Lydia

Concerned about that victory, Croesus, king of Lydia (modern-central Turkey), he fought against Cyrus, but between 550 and 540 BC, had to retreat to his capital, Sardis, where he prepared to sustain the siege, asking reinforcements its allies Babylonians, Egyptians and Spartans. But these did not have time to arrive. Herodotus tells how, defeated Croesus and conquered Sardis, Cyrus decided to slay Croesus, burning at the stake. It was said that Croesus was extraordinarily rich and had one day shown such wealth to the Athenian sage Solon, who was his guest. Solon, far from being impressed, warned Croesus about the instability of fortune, subject to sudden changes. When the flames were lit, Croesus remembered those words of wisdom and invoked the name of Solon. Intrigued, Cyrus questioned Croesus who told him about the episode: realizing the ugly action he was about to perform, he saved Croesus who, from that moment on, became his trusted adviser.

The conquest of Babylon

The conquest that most of all sanctioned the role of Persia as the dominant power, however, was that of Babylon. The clergy of Babylon, devoted to the cult of the god Marduk, were in contrast with King Nabonidus and favored the triumph of Cyrus, who thus entered in 539 BC. to Babylon without a fight. With great political wisdom, Cyrus on the one hand confirmed the Babylonian officials in their previous roles, while on the other hand, with the help of the clergy, he presented himself as the king that the god Marduk had chosen for his people. Even the Jewish tradition – referring to these ancient events – attributed to Cyrus the role of liberator, because it allowed the return to Palestine of the Jews, deported to Babylon by the victorious Nebuchadnezzar, and the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which the Babylonians had destroyed. Both tradition attributes generosity to Cyrus towards the vanquished, but so much does he remember his iron fist against the rebels and conspirators. Compacted this gigantic empire, Cyrus turned his eastern Iran aims and attacked the Massagetae nomads, ruled by Queen Tomyris. He laid a trap into which the queen’s son, who was taken prisoner, fell rashly. The young man, for the dishonor, killed himself and the fury of the queen was unleashed: the Persian army was defeated (530 BC) and Tomyris, found the corpse of Cyrus.

The last years of Cyrus

Following the conquest of Babylon, Cyrus returned to Persia as King of the Universe, that is, as the holder of all the royal titles of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Cyrus was king of Sumer, Akkad, the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Medes, as well as the Persians. However, he failed to bring about the political transformation of the Persian state he had in mind. In fact, when in 530 he died fighting the tribes of Central Asia (Massageti) who threatened the eastern satrapies, his project was not yet completed and his body was taken to his first capital in Pasargada near Shiraz in Iran.

The cylinder of Cyrus

 Manshure Kurosh is an ancient cylindrical block of clay on which there is a cuneiform Akkadian inscription of king Cyrus with which the ruler legitimizes his conquest of Babylon and tries to win the favor of his new subjects. was discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 1879.Attualmente is part of the British Museum’s collection, which sponsored the expedition when it was discovered. It was built and used as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, when the Neo-Babylonian Empire was invaded by Cyrus and incorporated into his vast Achaemenid empire. The text that can be read on the cylinder praises Cyrus, tells his genealogy and portrays him as a king in a row of kings. The Babylonian king Nabonidus, defeated and deposed by Cyrus, is instead described as an impious oppressor of the people of Babylon and his humble origins are implicitly contrasted with the royal lineage of Cyrus. The victorious Cyrus is portrayed as the chosen one by the main Babylonian god Marduk as the one who would restore peace and order to the region. The text also states that Cyrus was welcomed by the people of Babylon as their new ruler and entered the city peacefully, describing how he was a benefactor who improved the lives of citizens, repatriated deportees, restored temples and places of worship throughout Mesopotamia. The inscription ends with a description of how Cyrus repaired the walls of the city of Babylon. In 1971 the UN translated it into all its official languages. The cylinder decrees the normal themes of Persian rule: religious tolerance, the abolition of slavery, freedom of professional choice and expansion of the empire.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great is in fact the most famous monument in Pasargade

built on six high steps leading to the actual burial, whose chamber has a low and narrow entrance. Alexander the Great paid homage to the mausoleum of Cyrus after the sacking and destruction of Persepolis. Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus, one of his lieutenants, to enter the building; here he found a gold bed, a laid table, a gilded coffin, some vestments adorned with precious stones and an inscription, which is not visible today.

It is said, in fact, that in the inner chamber Cyrus the Great wrote a message to any conquerors including Alexander the Great that after hearing the words of Cyrus the Great he would start to cry:

“O man
Whoever you are,
and whenever you come,
Since I know that you will come,
I am Cyrus
I conquered a world empire for the Persians.
Don’t envy me
for that little land that covers my body! “

The Arab army decided to destroy it, because it was considered to be in contrast with the principles of Islam. But the Persian guardians managed to convince the army commander that the tomb was not built in honor of Cyrus the Great, but of King Solomon’s mother: and the Tomb was saved.