Iran is known as a four-season country that has many tourist attractions. From the works registered in UNESCO to the beautiful cities, deserts, forests, mountains and seas, each of them are among the tourist attractions of Iran, they have unique beauty and attract millions of tourists every year.
Iran is known as one of the friendliest countries due to the hospitality of its people. This country speaks of ancient civilizations and glorious days of the past. You must see and experience beautiful gardens and traditional markets.
In Iran, you can experience old structures with amazing architecture and pristine nature.
Iran is a country that all the people of the world should visit. Traveling to Iran can change your opinion. Because Iran is different from all the things you have heard and the media portrays it. You can ask this from your friends who have come to Iran.
Golestan Palace in Tehran is one of Iran’s royal palaces, registered in the list of national monuments of Iran, and is open to the public. In all countries with a glorious history of civilization and governance, kings and their entourages have built extraordinary architectural works, and many of these palaces and palaces are still standing. Many palaces have been turned into museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants, or other cultural and recreational uses that need to be restored and protected with better supervision and financial facilities. For this reason, parts of Golestan Palace are open to visitors today as museums. Stay with us to learn more about this beautiful and fantastic palace.
When we talk about Iran Traditional Hotels, what do you imagine?
Old architecture, walls made of mud and straw, wooden windows with colorful glasses, Iranian traditional music, water fountains, Iranian food and handicrafts, getting familiar with the rich Iranian culture. It has always been attractive and enjoyable for tourists who travel to Iran.
Many of the Iran traditional hotels and boutique hotels in Iran that have now become tourist accommodations in the past were houses or caravanserais that have been renovated and repurposed. For example, the Abbasi Hotel in Isfahan was once a caravanserai and is now known as the largest and most beautiful Iran traditional hotels and even the Middle East.
Shopping is always one of the most attractive activities for tourists during their travel to Iran. The traditional Bazaars of Iran, in addition to the pleasures of buying and preparing souvenirs, are a wonderful place to observe the beautiful Iranian architecture and learn more about the culture of Iranian peoples. Most cities in Iran have a traditional market, among which a few are the most famous and valuable. In this article from SITO travel, we want to review the most famous and beautiful traditional Bazaars of Iran, so stay with us until the end of the article.
What is a caravanserai? What was the purpose of the caravanserais in the past?
In the past, Iranian caravanserais were resting places for groups and people who reached this place after a long walk, put their horses in the stables of the caravanserais, and rested after drinking water and eating Iranian food.
In the past, travel was not as common as it is today, and due to the difficulties of the road, travel was limited to business trips, and the most important concern for businessmen was accommodation on the way. Iranian caravanserais were also built with the same goals.
Due to its good geographical location, Iran has always been at the center of main and communication routes. One of these important highways was the Silk Road; This road was a series of interconnected roads that connected East, West and South Asia together and to North Africa and Eastern Europe; The route that was considered the biggest and main commercial route in the world.
After the industrial revolution and the emergence of motorized transport, Persian caravanserais also lost their initial prosperity. Many of them were abandoned and gradually turned into ruins. The use of some Iranian caravanserais was also changed, and today they have turned into restaurants, traditional hotels and accommodation for tourists.
Introducing Uramanat (Hawraman Takht)
Uramanat or Oraman is an attractive small city in the west of Iran, which is located in Kurdistan province, 150 km west of Sanandaj and 63 km south of the beautiful city of Marivan. Hawraman Takht is the center of a unique rural area with special culture and customs, lingo and a natural structure named Uramanat or Hawramanat. In terms of country divisions, Uramanat is located in SarvAbad city of Kurdistan province. Hawraman Takht has attracted the attention of tourists from all over Iran and the world because of its natural and cultural features, every year numerous tourists visit Hawraman Takht and Hawramanat region.
The National Jewelry Museum of Iran
It is a collection of the most precious jewels in the world, collected over the centuries. Each object in the Museum recalls the bittersweet victories and defeats, which at the same time can be a reflection of the history of Iran and the artistic talent of its goldsmiths. This Treasure depicts the culture and civilization of the Iranian people who have had an adventurous past, but apparently never renounced the pleasure of bragging even with luxury items, obviously of priceless luxury.
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.