Iran
The main congregational mosque, near the bazaar, has beautiful Yazd-style twin minarets.
Must-see attractions in Iran
Iran
The attractively brick-vaulted Mirza Ali Akbar Mosque has a blue Kufic-tiled exterior frieze and a lighthouse-style minaret.
Iran
Dominating Enqelab Sq and looking great under floodlights, this 1932 European-style city hall should not be photographed.
Iran
Stroll the back alleys to find the handsome little Haji Fakr Mosque with its squat, Bukharan-style pepper-mill minaret.
Sheikh Allama Shushtari Shrine
Iran
This shrine entombs 20th-century religious scholar Mohammad Taqi 'Allama' Shushtari, one of Shushtar's favourite sons.
Iran
An attractive, domed stone building, Gonbad-e Arqala houses a fine collection of gravestones and pre-Islamic totems.
Yazd
This structure in the middle of the city is a useful landmark for navigating between Yazd's key sights and bazaars.
Iran
Lifelike wax dummies in traditional Ardabil costume inhabit this restored Ilkhanid (Mongol)–era hammam.
Iran
This Qajar-era mosque was built for Amonulla Khan, with tiled twin minarets, 32 interior domes and two verandas.
Iran
This small shepherd's chapel has a commanding view of the Aras River. Don't be caught taking photos, though.
Iran
Just off Taleqani St, this Church of the Virgin Mary has an unusual old stone pyramid as its central dome.
Iran
The squat Gonbad-e Qaffariyeh sits forlornly in a riverside garden with a tacky trio of concrete dolphins.
Tehran
Weave your way through the bazaar to find this ornately decorated shrine to a descendant of the prophet.
Iran
This small two-storey museum houses pottery, coins and other artifacts dating from pre-Islamic times.
Iran
The 20th-century Kantur Church has a blue-brick belfry dome and sits in a tiny Russian graveyard.
Tabriz
Behind high gates, the curious Anglican Church has a tower of four diminishing cylinders.
Iran
One of the last remnants of medieval Neishabur is its short stretch of covered bazaar.
Iran
Just beyond Gorgan's southern city limits, Nahor Khoran is an area of woodlands and gurgling streams offering an easy, clean-air escape from the city…
Southeastern Iran
Guides claim that this small, lonely mud compound with four little towers is a caravanserai (a traditional inn with a courtyard for camel trains). In fact…
Iran
Sang-e Shir is a walrus-sized lump of rock eroded beyond recognition by the rubbing of hands over 2300 years. It was supposedly once a lion, but you’d…
Iran
Dating from the 1020s, Pir Alamdar is a circular, Seljuk-era tomb-tower in faceted pale brick, notable for its original band of Kufic inscriptions around…
Iran
In an early 20th-century 'khan's house', this modest yet well displayed museum includes ancient pottery and mannequin displays – including a barber…
Iran
In the mid 20th-century the Pahlavis swept away a former Safavid precursor to build a two-storey palace that, apart from its two Corinthian columns, is an…
Kashan
The modest Kashani National Museum, which occupies a small pavilion in the grounds of Bagh-e Fin (Fin Garden) showcases some fine examples of Kashani…
Tehran
The late 19th-century building housing the first public bank in Iran sits at the east end of Imam Khomeini Sq. At the time of writing the brick building…
Iran
From a similar era to the BuAli Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum, but architecturally more bizarre, looking like a giant child's sippy cup. There’s little reason…
Tehran
Ringed by perpetually seething traffic, Imam Khomeini Sq is not a place to linger. Little of the grandeur of the Qajar era remains here, although there is…
Iran
A steep stairway near Mashahir Sq leads down into what was once a water cistern, though it's now blocked off. Behind, what appears to be a fortress tower…
Tehran
Under construction since the 1990s, this mammoth mosque, with 230m-tall minarets, will be one of the largest in the world when eventually completed – an…
Iran
Tucked into the western corner of the Shah Abbas Caravanserai is this small museum of stuffed birds, local animals, pinned insects and pickled snakes…
