Things to do in Yazd
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Mohsen Hajisaeed
Young, highly organised Mohsen speaks excellent English, leads tours in Yazd, Kerman, Fars and Esfahan provinces (including Bavanat), and can arrange hotel discounts.
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Hammam-e Khan Restaurant
Deep in the heart of the old city, this restored underground hammam is one of the original historic restorations in Yazd and deserves its ongoing popularity. The interior is all tranquil pools, arched ceilings and fine tilework, and the food is delicious (as long as it’s not too busy).
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Yazd Water Museum
For at least 2000 years Iranians have been digging qanats (underground water channels) to irrigate crops and supply drinking water. To build a qanat you first need to find an underground water source. This source could be more than 100m deep, but as the whole system is reliant on gravity the source must be higher than the final destination. Then you dig a tunnel just wide and tall enough to crawl along, so the water can flow across an extremely shallow gradient to its destination.
The mounds of soil you'll see in long lines across the desert are the top of wells, dug to dispose of excavated soil and allow ventilation.
Because of the hazards and expense of constructing a q…
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Old City
With its badgirs (windtowers or wind catchers) poking out of a baked-brown labyrinth of lanes, the old city of Yazd emerges like a phoenix from the desert - a very old phoenix. Yazd's old city is one of the oldest towns on earth, according to Unesco, and is the perfect place to get a feel for the region's rich history. Just about everything in the old city is made from sun-dried mud bricks, and the resulting brown skyline is dominated by tall badgirs on almost every rooftop.
The residential quarters appear almost deserted because of the high walls, which shield the houses from the narrow and labyrinthine kuches (lanes) crisscrossing the town.
Wander around; you'll doubtles…
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Towers of Silence
Set on two lonely, barren hilltops on the southern outskirts of Yazd are the evocative Zoroastrian Towers of Silence. In accordance with Zoroastrian beliefs about the purity of the earth, dead bodies were not buried but left in these uncovered stone towers so that vultures could pick the bones clean. Such towers have not been used since the '60s.
At the foot of the hills on the southern outskirts of Yazd are several disused Zoroastrian buildings, including a defunct well, a water cistern and two small badgirs (windtowers or wind catchers), a kitchen and a lavatory. The modern Zoroastrian cemetery is nearby.
The easiest way to get here is by chartering a private taxi for ab…
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Saheb A Zaman Club Zurkhaneh
Just off the north side of Amir Chakhmaq Sq is the Saheb A Zaman Club Zurkhaneh, which is worth seeing both for its Iranian brand of body building and because it’s a quite amazing structure. The modern club is inside a cavernous ab anbar (water reservoir) built about 1580. Looking like a 29m-high standing egg from the inside, and crowned with five burly badgirs, the reservoir stored water for much of the town. The hour-long workouts in the Zurkhaneh are an interesting window on Iranian culture.
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Bagh-e Dolat Abad
Once a residence of Persian regent Karim Khan Zand, Bagh-e Dolat Abad was built about 1750 and consists of a small pavilion set amid quiet gardens. The interior of the pavilion is superb, with intricate latticework and exquisite stained-glass windows. It’s also renowned for having Iran’s loftiest badgir, standing over 33m, though this one was rebuilt after it collapsed in the 1960s. The entrance can be reached from the western end of Shahid Raja’i St.
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Desert Walks
Most hotels can arrange tours but using an independent guide can be more rewarding. Most can lead tours to almost anywhere in Yazd province, and further, and have been recommended. The most common tour is the Kharanaq-Chak Chak-Meybod loop, which is impossible on public transport. Other options include camel tours and desert walks. Old city tours are also popular. Silk Road Travel also run these tours.
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Camel Tours
Most hotels can arrange tours but using an independent guide can be more rewarding. Most can lead tours to almost anywhere in Yazd province, and further, and have been recommended. The most common tour is the Kharanaq-Chak Chak-Meybod loop, which is impossible on public transport. Other options include camel tours and desert walks. Old city tours are also popular. Silk Road Travel also run these tours.
reviewed
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Kharanaq-Chak Chak-Meybod loop
Most hotels can arrange tours but using an independent guide can be more rewarding. Most can lead tours to almost anywhere in Yazd province, and further, and have been recommended. The most common tour is the Kharanaq-Chak Chak-Meybod loop, which is impossible on public transport. Other options include camel tours and desert walks. Old city tours are also popular. Silk Road Travel also run these tours.
reviewed
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Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin
The beautiful blue-tiled dome of the Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin, the tomb of local Islamic notable Sayyed Roknaddin Mohammed Qazi, is visible from any elevated point in the city. Built 700 years ago, the dome is notable but the deteriorating interior stucco and other decoration remains impressive. The door is often closed but a knock should bring the caretaker.
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Khan-e Lari
The 150-year-old Khan-e Lari is one of the best-preserved Qajar-era houses in Yazd. The badgirs, traditional doors, stained-glass windows, elegant archways and alcoves mark it out as one of the city’s grandest homes. The merchant family who built it have long gone, and it’s now home to architecture students and cultural heritage officers.
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Ateshkadeh
Zoroastrians come from around the world to see this Ateshkadeh, often referred to as the Zoroastrian Fire Temple, said to have been burning since about AD 470. Visible through a window from the entrance hall, the flame was transferred to Ardakan in 1174, then to Yazd in 1474 and to its present site in 1940. Above the entrance you can see the Fravahar symbol.
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Jameh Mosque
The magnificent Jameh Mosque dominates the old city. Its tiled entrance portal is one of the tallest in Iran, flanked by two magnificent 48m-high minarets and adorned with an inscription from the 15th century. The exquisite mosaics on the dome and mihrab , and the tiles above the main western entrance to the courtyard are particularly stunning.
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Amir Chakhmaq Complex
Its rows of perfectly proportioned sunken alcoves are at their best, and most photogenic, around sunset when the light softens and the towering exterior is discreetly floodlit. Recent work has added sides. During the No Ruz holiday it’s possible to climb up for spectacular views across Yazd, but at most other times it’s closed.
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Old City Bazaars
The old city bazaars are probably the best places in Iran to buy silk (known locally as tirma), brocade, glassware and cloth - products that brought the town its prosperity in centuries past. If you have a sweet tooth, don't forget to try pashmak (Iranian fairy floss), available in many shops around Beheshti Sq.
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Alexander’s Prison
This 15th-century domed school is known as Alexander’s Prison because of a reference to this apparently dastardly place in a Hafez poem. Whether the deep well in the middle of its courtyard was in fact built by Alexander the Great and used as a dungeon seems doubtful, no matter what your guide tells you.
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Moslem Mirzazadeh
Recently renovated, the building itself is worth a look for the small display on the old city of Yazd, the clean toilets, the overly fluorescent but mercifully cool subterranean teahouse and the studio-shop of sitar-maker and -player Moslem Mirzazadeh.
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Massoud Jaladat
Massoud is the energy behind Fravihar Ecotours, a fledgling group of Yazdis running mainly desert tours. There are all sorts of reasonably priced options, mainly involving desert trekking; email or call for options and ask about the desert guide.
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Pizza Gole Sorkh
- Yazd, Iran
- Restaurants › Pizza
After working for almost 30 years as a pizza chef in Australia, the owner returned home to open a modern, busy restaurant serving arguably the best pizzas in Iran and a range of Italian classics. His serve of Aussie slang is pretty good, too.
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Marco Polo Restaurant
Set like a crown atop the Orient Hotel, this glass-sided restaurant serves up sumptuous views of the Masjed-e Jameh and surrounding blue-tiled domes and delicious Iranian food that’s fit for the setting. Ideal for a romantic dinner.
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Malek-o Tojjar
- Yazd, Iran
- Restaurants › Hotel
The evocative surrounds and fine Iranian dishes here are complemented with several regional classics, including some delightful soups, bademjan and other vegetarian dishes. And it’s very reasonably priced considering the surrounds.
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Tomb of the 12 Imams
The early-11th-century brick Tomb of the 12 Imams is almost next door to Alexander's Prison. The once-fine (but now badly deteriorated) inscriptions inside bear the names of the Shiite Imams, though none are actually buried here.
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Mozaffar Traditional Restaurant
A recent addition to the sonnati scene, the Mozaffar is set in and around a particularly large courtyard, with both private rooms and takhts. To the standard Iranian menu, add (brace yourself) pizza.
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Yazd Traditional Cookie
Sweet shop extraordinaire! A huge array of shirin (sweets) is made in front of you by a team of busy men who will happily let you taste a few offerings; the pistachio-flavoured loz-e peste is supreme!
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