The Charm of the Western Iran

Departure by scheduled flight to the capital of Iran, Tehran, located at the foot of Mount Alborz. Welcome and greetings by SITO TRAVEL’s tour guide at the airport. Transfer to hotel and check-in.

We leave to Zanjan. On the way, we will stop in Soltaniyeh. Once we arrive at our destination, we will visit Bazaar complex, Jameh Mosque and Anthropological Museum of Zanjan.

• The Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore: also known under the name of the dome of Florence Cathedral (Duomo), was built in 13th century as the roof of the transept of Florence Cathedral. It is considered the closest structure to the Dome of Soltaniyeh. The construction of the cathedral began in 1296 by the Florentine architect Arnolfo di Cambio, although the realization of the dome remained a problem for over a hundred years. The project was finally entrusted to Filippo Brunelleschi, who erected a double-shell dome with a height of 39 m. The dome, which took 16 years to be built, is one of the most important and impressive architectural achievements of the 15th century. As Piero Sanpaolesi has shown, the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, by applying the double-shell structure, may have been inspired by the one in Soltaniyeh, located about 300 km southeast of Tabriz. For about thirty years, it was the summer residence of the Ilkhanid Mongolian tribes.

The dome of Soltaniyeh, the largest brick dome in the world, about 48.5 meters high, rests on a high octagonal construction, each side of which is nearly 80 meters long. The dome, covered by turquoise tiles, is surrounded by eight minarets. The interior, a perfect octagon, on each side has a large, tall iwan that at the bottom is divided into two superimposed planes: the lower with a downward door or niche and the upper with a loggia to look into. Each floor opens to a different panorama. In order to discover the symbols, floral motifs, geometry, calligraphy and symmetry of Iranian architecture, one must contemplate every corner of this building which, with its chromatic beauty, will leave any visitor speechless.

• Anthropological Museum (Rakhtshooy Khaneh): is a building that dates back to the Qajar period and exhibits typical clothing of the Azeri people of the Zanjan region. Actually, the museum was an old traditional washhouse located in the main historical street of the city. Since Zanjan is surrounded by mountains and is located at 1630m above sea level, its temperature is mostly low. Thus, a washhouse would facilitate the washing of clothes in an enclosed and warm place that housed the women of the neighborhood to wash, dry and mend clothes. The washhouse consists of two parts: the part dedicated to the management and the washing room of rectangular shape equipped with a running water jet. On the upper floor, where the management room used to be, there is an area dedicated to the manufacture of Zanjan handicrafts such as oriental slippers. The word “babouche” derives from the Persian word “Papush” (composed of pa (foot) and push (cover)) and therefore, from the French word couvre-pied or babouche.

• Zanjan Old Bazaar: The harsh winter and extreme cold are the main reasons for the construction of public places and bazaars in the western part of Iran. Zanjan Bazaar is an important example whose details are observable in its brick vaults and narrower and lower passages than similar bazaars in warmer areas. The vaults prevents heat exchange between the interior and exterior and the small space of the bazaar creates a comfortable environment for the people inside, so that the heat produced by the activities, lamps and heaters in the stores can lower the winter temperature of the city and make the bazaar passable even in the coldest time of the year. To light and air-condition the passages, the roofs are usually equipped with holes at the tip which, in addition to letting in natural light from the ceiling, create visual harmony. Along the way to the bazaar, there are many stores that make and sell all kinds of knives, especially the typical Zanjan folding knives.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

After breakfast, departure for Takht-e Soleyman. This archeological site of the Sassanid era is hidden among the picturesque mountains that accompany us during the trip and beautify the road. Takht-e Soleyman, in addition to its prestigious history, brings together a number of criteria to understand better the Zoroastrian culture and their place of worship. The refined beauty of Takht-e Soleyman where water and fire are reconciled surprises any visitor.

• The archaeological site of Takht-e Soleyman, in northwestern Iran, is located in a valley surrounded by volcanic mountains of Zanjan Province. The site includes the main Zoroastrian shrine, partially reconstructed during the Ilkhanid period in the 13th century, as well as a temple dedicated to Anahita from the Sassanid period, 6th and 7th centuries. The architecture of the fire temple, as well as that of the kings’ assembly halls and other palaces, influenced significantly the architectural development during the Islamic period that took place after the dissolution of Sassanid rule in the 7th century AD. Takht-e Soleyman is also associated with beliefs much older than Zoroastrianism, as well as significant biblical figures and legends.

The site consists of an oval platform that rises about 60 m above the surrounding valley. It has a small artesian limestone well, which formed a lake 120 m deep. From there, small streams carry water to the surrounding land. The Sassanids occupied the site from the 5th century, building the royal sanctuary on a platform. The sanctuary was surrounded by a 13 meter high stone wall, 38 towers and two entrances to the north and south. The main building is the Zoroastrian fire temple or Azargoshnasb which is located on the northern shore of the lake. This temple, built of brick, has a square plan typical of Sassanid fire temples. This Sassanid architectural criterion became an exemplary model for the construction of other places of worship in the Islamic period.

Dinner at a restaurant and overnight stay in a local accommodation.

The origins of the Kurds can be traced back to an Indo-European people who settled in the region of Kurdistan. The Kurds are members of an ethnic and linguistic group living in Iraq, Syria, southeastern Anatolia, and the Zagros Mountains in western Iran. Most Kurds live in contiguous areas of Iran, Iraq and Turkey, a loosely defined geographic region called Kurdistan. Iran and Iraq each officially recognize these entities: the western Iranian province of Kurdistan and the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.  The Kurdish language is an Indo-Iranian language close to Persian and Pashto. The Kurdish population is estimated at 25 to 39 million, including communities in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Syria and Europe.

The nomadic lifestyle of the Kurds was mainly based on livestock and pastoralism on the plains of Mesopotamian and the hills of Turkey and Iran, although most Kurds practiced marginal agriculture as the mountainous area prevented to grow cereals and provided the opportunity to plant trees such as walnut and pomegranate. The enforcement of national borders since World War I has prevented seasonal migration of flocks, forcing the majority of the Kurdish population to abandon their traditional lifestyle and opt for sedentary life by engaging in herding and farming; while others engaged in non-traditional works

From an anthropological point of view, Kurdish culture is radically linked to their lifestyle in the mountains, i.e., the formation of societies and villages in the Zagros valleys, the typical Kurdish houses and the constant work in spring and summer to be able to fight the freezing cold in winter. In short, snow, cold and low temperatures define the basic criteria of the Kurdish ex-nomadic society. Kurdish culture, in addition to poetry, clothing, architecture and traditional festivals, preserves a kind of music still practiced by Kurdish families in Iran. It is interesting to know that in Iranian Kurdistan, there is a culture related to the production of pomegranate and during the harvest season, villages hold an annual festival in which women bring the first pomegranates on a copper tray and men attend the parade playing euphoric music with the typical Kurdish musical instrument, the sitar.

Arrival in Sanandaj, capital of the Iranian Kurdistan region. We will visit the Archaeological Museum of Kurdistan, Asef Mansion, Jameh Mosque and Bazaar of the historical center that reminds Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan. The visit of Sanandaj highlights the multi-ethnicity of Iran, as walking through the streets of the city, one can discover the tradition, facial features, language and traditional clothing of the Kurdish people. (In case of closure of museums or bazaar, the visits will be completed the next day before leaving Sanandaj).

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Departure to Kermanshah, on the way, we will visit the Kurdish Village Palangan, 120 km from Sanandaj. The peculiar style of this village on the rocky slopes, as in Masuleh, makes the roof of the lower house the courtyard of the upper house. The materials used in the construction of the houses are mostly stones in irregular shapes together with mud mortar and lime.

In most cold cities, the courtyards of the houses are located one and a half meters lower than the sidewalks, so that during the rainy season, running water from streams and rivers can enter the garden and water storage tanks.

To heat the interior space, which remains the biggest problem in the mountainous areas of Iran, a traditional method is used: Korsi. Under a table, they place a metal basin filled with charcoal burning without flame or smoke. The table is set with a very thick blanket called Lahaf Korsi covered by a mat, Ru Korsi, to protect it from food stains. Family members sit around the Korsi on large cushions pulling the blanket to cover the rest of their body. Due to the low height of the table, tea and snacks are served on the same table.

After visiting Kamyaran, we leave for Kermanshah:

Kermanshah Province is located on the strategic road that connecting Mesopotamia to the Iranian plateau. This road was militarily and commercially important, especially for the lapis lazuli and silk trade. In addition, the surrounding area is rich in prehistoric and historical sites such as Bisotun and Taq-e Bostan. Excavations carried out in the local caves has revealed the prehistoric human presence in this area. Bisotun was almost constantly occupied from prehistoric times until the accession of Darius I to the throne. These Neolithic testimonies precede the appearance of civilizations by different peoples. From the third millennium B.C., the Babylon-Ecbatana road, capital of the Medes in Hamadan, was used as a military route to invade the territory of the Medes by the Assyrians.

The Achaemenid and Sassanid remains and inscriptions near Kermanshah in Bisotun and Taq-e Bostan fascinated early Muslim writers to such an extent that prompted them to give imaginative interpretations of these pre-Islamic scenes and inscriptions. The depictions of Khosrow II and the Sassanid kings have been interpreted more accurately.

Between the end of World War I and the fall of the Qajar dynasty (1918-25), twelve governors, mainly military leaders, served as governors of Kermanshah. During the Pahlavi period, Kermanshah notables (secular and religious) participated in the oil nationalization movement. Following the July 21, 1952 uprising in Tehran, demonstrators in Kermanshah, wearing shrouds, marched to the capital in solidarity with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and his supporters. After the 1953 coup, Teymur Bakhtiar, commander of the Kermanshah garrison, was called to Tehran to head the new military governor of the capital.

• Taq-e Bostan: After the fall of the Parthians, the Sassanids regained power by founding a new Persian empire: the Sassanid Empire. The name Sassanid identifies the dynasty, founded by Ardashir I, which ruled Persia between the Parthian rule and the Islamic conquest in 651 AD. The term Sassanid derives from Sasan, who was a priest of the temple of Anahita – the goddess of water – in Istakhr, a city in Fars, which was at that time a kingdom of the Parthian Empire. Babak, his son, governor of the city, taking advantage of the succession disputes between the pretenders to the throne of the empire at the beginning of the 3rd century, revolted and proclaimed himself king of Persia. Ardashir I, also known as Artaxerxes by Greek speakers, defeated the Parthian army and, consequently, the Sassanid Empire extended its colonies further and further by conquering the remaining Iranian and Mesopotamian provinces. Ardashir crowned himself at Ctesiphon in 226 AD and called himself Shahanshah (king of kings). Taq-e Bostan is the only place where one can learn more about the details of a bas-relief of the Sassanid period representing the succession of power with the presence of very relevant characters such as Mitra and Anahita. The largest bas-relief, under the largest arch, represents the royal hunting scene par excellence where hunting details abound as if it were an illustrated book.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

In the morning, departure to Hamadan. On the way, we will visit Bisotun, declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whose fame is indebted to monumental inscription on a rock that was ordered by Darius I. Then, we continue to Kangavar to visit the Temple of Anahita (the goddess of water).

• Bisotun: is located on the ancient trade route that connects the Iranian plateau to Mesopotamia and has remains from the prehistoric to medieval period, Achaemenid, Sassanid and Ilkhanid. The main monument of this archaeological site is a bas-relief and a cuneiform inscription commissioned by Darius the Great when he ascended the throne of the Persian Empire in 521 B.C. This bas-relief represents Darius holding a bow, symbol of his sovereignty, and crushing the bust of a man lying on his back before him. According to the legends, this figure is Geomat, the magician of the temple, who claimed to be the king of the throne whose assassination allowed Darius to take power. Around the bas-relief, about 1,200 lines of inscriptions tell the story of Darius’s battles in 521-520 B.C., against the governors who tried to divide the empire founded by Cyrus the Great. The inscriptions are written in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The oldest, written in Elamite, narrates the legends about the king and the rebellions. It is followed by a Babylonian version of the same content. The last part of the inscription is particularly important, since it was when Darius first introduced the Old Persian. The inscription, being the only Achaemenid monumental inscription, has great importance as it documents a specific historical event: the re-establishment of the Persian Empire by Darius I the Great. It also testifies to the mutual influences in the development of monumental art and writing in the region of the Persian Empire. In Bisotun, there are also traces of the Mede period of the VIII-VII century BC.

• The historic center of Hamadan, from the urban design point of view, has a circular layout which, in some respects, has been directly inspired by Ecbatana. In fact, the Imam’s Square today has a fundamental role in meticulously explore the city and know about the changes undergone during a deep renovation in the last decades. Imam Square with its main streets (six in total) connects the central area with various neighborhoods and places of great social and religious importance, including the Great Bazaar of Hamadan, the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai and finally Avicenna Mausoleum, great Persian philosopher and physician Abu Ali Sina.

• Avicenna Mausoleum: He was born around 980 AD in Afshana, a village near Bukhara in Khorasan. His father, who had left Balkh a few years earlier, was a governor. A few years after his birth, the family moved to Bukhara. The capital was a very active cultural center that attracted the attention of scholars, including Avicenna. He did his early studies with the most prominent teachers of the time. Given the availability of teachers and libraries, his father’s high position in the Samanid administration, and his precociousness, at the age of eighteen, Avicenna was fully educated in the Greek sciences.

Avicenna began his professional career at the age of eighteen as a physician. After his father’s death, he was also assigned to an administrative position, perhaps as a district governor. He wrote “the Canon of Medicine” which was used as a reference book in many medical schools, including Montpellier until 1650. His writings were not limited to the field of medicine but also included music, metaphysics, chemistry, philosophy and rhetoric. Avicenna Mausoleum is a complex located in Avicenna Square that features a library, a small museum and a spindle-shaped tower inspired by Kavus Tower.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

During the reign of the Achaemenids over the Persian Empire a 3000 kilometer road called the Royal Persian Road was built by the order of Darius I connecting various satrapies from present-day Iran to the Mediterranean Sea, passing through present-day Turkey.

The Royal Road was originally part of the major trade route, the Silk Road, stretched from the city of Ecbatana in Hamadan to the port of Izmir (Smyrna) on the Aegean Sea in Turkey. Darius I, during his reign, ensured constant control over the Royal Road so that he could guarantee the security and continuous connection between all the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire. This road had several stops and it took ordinary passengers three months to go over, while the imperial messengers with fresh horses crossed it within nine days. This road served as the main link between the East and the West with Alexander the Great’s conquests in Asia Minor. In fact, he established the farthest city of the Macedonian Kingdom, Alexandria, along the road and opened a sea route from the Indus River delta to the Persian Gulf.

The routes of the Royal Persian Road, turned into the Silk Road today, have been very divergent according to the historical-economic conditions of the countries crossed: from the Far East, the Silk Road directed travelers toward Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran passing through Nishapur and Semnan to reach Tehran, Qazvin and Tabriz and then headed to the Aegean Sea. The origin of Qazvin dates back to the heyday of trade along the Silk Road in Iran. However, with the relocation of the Safavid capital from Tabriz to this city, it also became a political and commercial center. Today, Qazvin offers its fascinating places inherited from the prosperous past of this city.

In the morning, departing for Qazvin to discover its magnificent historical sites:

• We will walk through the elegant Saray-e Sa’d al-Saltaneh, one of the most spectacular places in the traditional bazaar of Qazvin. This brick caravanserai contains several entrance gates, some of which are connected to the surrounding streets and others are connected to different parts of the bazaar. The entrance gates open into a vestibule of beautiful architectural style. There is a Chahar-Sough on the south side with a dome on top. Around this cross-shaped passageway, there are 16 chambers with a height of 1 meter and carved wooden doors.

• Shahzadeh Hossein Shrine, a religious complex that includes a mosque and the mausoleum of the son of the eighth Shiite Imam, buried in Mashhad. The mausoleum is reminiscent of a palace with a walled garden, rows of plants, small iwans, niches, tombstones and precious tile decorations. The facade of the main gate consists of six ornamental minarets. The tomb is covered by a yellow-blue dome. The central part of the building is decorated with numerous mirror mosaics, and the interior of the shrine is decorated with mirrors, crystals and chandeliers, typical elements of places of worship and shrines.

• Chehel Sotoun, the Safavid pavilion, was originally part of the first Safavid palace complex in 1596, the only remaining construction from that period. In this pavilion, the decorative elements of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties are clearly distinguishable: tiles, mainly from the Qajar period, in the outside, and murals from the Safavid structure in the inside. In the development of architecture, the Chehel Sotoun Palace in Qazvin anticipates a particular style during the Safavid reign also in other cities of Iran such as Isfahan and Zanjan.

• We will finish the visits with the Historical Tehran Gate and the Tomb of Hamdullah Mostofi; geographer, poet and famous Iranian writer from the Ilkhanid period of the 13th century. This brick tomb is built in Azerbaijani style under the Ottoman influence. Its turquoise conical dome is considered the unique feature of this building. The tomb has an area of more than 380 square meters, including a courtyard of 350 meters.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Scenic route to the enigmatic Alamut Castle (Hasan Sabbah Castle), located among the mountains at the western edge of the Alborz mountain range, in a valley near Qazvin in the southern Caspian Sea. In the past, part of these mountains formed the Daylam district, where still is remote and wild. This area separates the central plateau of Iran from the Caspian Sea and constitutes a formidable natural barrier. On the northern side, the slopes are densely forested and there are wild animals such as wild boar, bear and some other species such as the Caspian tiger on the verge of extinction.

The history of Alamut Castle is radically linked to that of Hassan Sabbah (1034 -1124). Hence, it will be useful to know about his ideology and religious doctrine as he was the leader of the Nizari sect. The power of the Nizari state, also called Hashshashin, whose fame is indebted to their strategy of targeted assassinations against political and military leaders, reached its peak during the Fatimid Caliphate. He was born in Qom in a Shiite Muslim family and received his religious education from an early age. At the age of seventeen, he converted to Ismailism, a sub-sect of Shiite Islam, which considers Imam Ismail as the seventh and last Shiite Imam and not his brother Musa ibn Jafar, whom the Twelver Shia recognizes as the successor of the prophetic lineage. The missionary of Ismailism is a very special person. He received intensive training in Ismaili doctrine and in his travels he sought new adherents to the Ismaili faith. He leaded an exemplary life in order to attract people with his piety. He behaved equally with people regardless of hierarchy and earned his living through different professions.

Hassan Sabbah is an Ismaili missionary or propagandist of this faith who gained so much fame especially in the northwest of Iran. The authorities pursued him and the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, with whom Hasan befriended, ordered to arrest him in other to prevent the proliferation of his revolutionary ideology, but he was killed by a follower of the faith. In 1090, Hassan Sabbah took the castle of Alamut and made it the center of the Ismailism. Despite the invasion of the Seljuk Turks and their small number, the Ismailis did not lose their independence in the castle in the Daylam Mountains for 166 years. Having lived among hostile populations, the Ismailis were often victims of massacres to which they responded with political assassinations and so-called “sacred crimes”, planned in Alamut. The practice of terrorism and the tendency to secrecy and esotericism have favored the development of legends and earned the Ismaili people pejorative epithets such as “hashashins” from which the word “assassin” is derived, misinterpreted as being derived from “hashish”.

The library, razed in the Mongol attack, and astronomical facilities of Alamut were famous. The Seljuks took over some of the Ismaili fortresses, but for seven years Alamut resisted the attacks. The castle consists of two parts: the upper for and the lower fort.With the death of Hassan Sabbah in 1124, the Seljuks took the control of the castle.

Arrival in Tehran. Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Tehran, the capital of Iran, is the most dynamic and effervescent city of Iran. With a population of over 8 million, this bustling city reflects its complexity in a chaotic atmosphere like any other metropolis. However, Tehran is a cornerstone of modern history as it offers its extraordinary museums to travelers among which are National Jewelry Museum that has the most important collection of precious jewels in the world.

Iran’s concern of artistic developments, recent architectural interventions and the revival of many traditional style cafes has made the city a fascinating labyrinth that holds a surprise for visitors at every corner.

Visiting Tehran:

• National Museum of Iran exhibits history, art and culture through archaeological findings from the sixth millennium BC to the Islamic era, the 7th century AD. There is a wonderful collection of ceramics, pottery and bronze in this museum and, in addition, every six months, a temporary exhibition is organized with the most valuable archaeological objects, borrowed from other museums such as Venice, Berlin, etc.

• Golestan Palace, located near the Grand Bazaar, is a remarkable complex that has its roots in the 16th century, when Tehran slowly transformed from a simple village into a real city. Golestan means “garden of flowers”, a name that honors wonderful Persian Gardens in the place. The contemporary Iranian history is so indebted to this complex where Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was crowned claiming himself the successor to Cyrus the Great. Next, we visit the entrance to Tehran Grand Bazaar where, among its 10 kilometers of galleries, is possible to find any imaginable object.

• National Jewelry Museum (open only from Saturday to Tuesday) is located in a large vault with a 25 cm thick door in the basement of the Central Bank of Iran. The museum houses royal jewels, precious stones, a globe set with gems, a variety of tiaras, the crowns of the Pahlavi and Qajar dynasties, and the world’s largest pink diamond, Darya-e Nour (182 carats). This diamond was brought to Iran as a symbol of Nader Shah’s victorious campaigns in India in 1739.

The Carpet Museum is an alternative to the National Jewelry Museum.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Transfer to Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) departing Tehran to destination country.