Architecture sights in Iran
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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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Timche-ye Amin al Dowleh
The best way to appreciate the extent of Kashan's bazaar is to climb to its roof. There are tiny staircases throughout and it's fun to ask a bazari (bazaar shopkeeper) to lead you up. If that doesn't work, head to the magnificent Timche-ye Amin al Dowleh , a high dome with lavish interior mouldings completed in 1868. Beneath the dome, in a square dominated by carpet shops, ask the guys at the Chaykhaneh Caravan Sara to show you to the roof (they might ask for a payment, but not if you eat there).
You can climb all the way to the top of the dome, from where the views over the brown town and bulbous roofscape of the bazaar are inspired. Look for the just-dyed wool drying i…
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Iwans
Iwans are rectangular halls opening onto a courtyard. The Jameh Mosque's south iwan is the most elaborate, with Mongol-era stalactite mouldings, some splendid 15th-century mosaics on the side walls, and two minarets. The north iwan has a wonderful monumental porch with the Seljuk's customary Kufic inscriptions and austere brick pillars in the sanctuary.
The west iwan was originally built by the Seljuks but later decorated by the Safavids. It has mosaics that are more geometric than those of the southern hall. The courtyard is topped by a maazeneh, a small raised platform with a conical roof from where the faithful used to be called to prayer.
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Masjed-e Vakil
The beautiful Masjed-e Vakil was begun by Karim Khan and is the only major mosque surviving from the late Zand period. Beside the entrance to the bazaar, it has two vast iwans to the north and south, a magnificent inner courtyard surrounded by beautifully tiled alcoves and porches, and a pleasingly proportioned 75m-by-36m vaulted prayer hall supported by 48 carved columns. Inside the prayer hall are an impressive mihrab and 14-step marble minbar, carved from a monolith carried all the way from Azerbaijan. Much of the tiling, with its predominantly floral motifs and arabesques, was added in the early Qajar era.
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Masjed-e Nasir-ol-Molk
Masjed-e Nasir-ol-Molk is one of the most elegant and photographed mosques in southern Iran. Built at the end of the 19th century, its coloured tiling (an unusually deep shade of blue) is exquisite. There is some particularly fine stalactite moulding in the smallish outer portal and in the northern iwan, but it is the stunning stained glass, exquisitely carved pillars and polychrome faience of the winter prayer hall that are most eye-catching. Photographers should come as early as possible in the morning for shots of the hall lit up through the glass (you might have to tip the caretaker to open the curtains).
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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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Jameh Mosque Domes
In the Jameh Mosque, the room beneath the grand Nezam al-Molk Dome and the Seljuk-era hypostyle prayer halls either side just breathe history, while at the other end of the complex the Taj al-Molk Dome is widely considered to be the finest brick dome ever built. While relatively small, it is said to be mathematically perfect, and has survived dozens of earthquakes with nary a blemish for more than 900 years. To reach it you walk through a forest of imposing pillars.
These domes are among the oldest parts of the mosque.
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Jolfa
Esfahan's Armenian quarter is Jolfa. It dates from the time of Shah Abbas I, who transported this colony of Christians from the town of Jolfa (now on Iran's northern border) en masse, and named the village 'New Jolfa'. Abbas sought their skills as merchants, entrepreneurs and artists - a look at the walls of Vank Cathedral reveals what he was after.
The Armenian Christians had their religious freedom respected, but they were restricted to this area across the river and kept away from the Islamic centres.
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Room of Sultan Uljeitu
To fully appreciate the Jameh Mosque you must go into the fine interior rooms. The Room of Sultan Uljeitu, a 14th-century Shiite convert, is home to one of the mosque's greatest treasures - an exquisite stucco mihrabawash with dense Quranic inscriptions and floral designs. Next door is the Timurid-era Winter Hall (Beit al-Sheta), built in 1448 and lit by alabaster skylights - ask the caretaker to turn off the neon (or do it yourself) to see the full effect.
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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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Esther & Mordecai Tomb Tower
This vaguely Tolkeinesque, 14th-century tomb tower was once Iran’s most important Jewish pilgrimage site. These days visitors are few and far between and some of the Hebrew inscriptions have been repainted so often by those who evidently couldn’t understand them, that they have become stylised beyond readability.
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Old City Walls
As one of the few remnants of the ancient city of Kashan, this circular wall and an attractive park to the southeast are worth a quick look if you're visiting the nearby traditional houses. Enter the interior of the circular walls from the southeast and climb the northeastern part of the wall for some city views.
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Winter Hall
To fully appreciate the Jameh Mosque you must go into the fine interior rooms. Next door to the Room of Sultan Uljeitu is the Timurid-era Winter Hall, built in 1448 and lit by alabaster skylights - ask the caretaker to turn off the neon (or do it yourself) to see the full effect.
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Madraseh-ye Chahar Bagh
The Madraseh-ye Chahar Bagh was built between 1704 and 1714 as part of an expansive complex that included a caravanserai (now the Abbasi Hotel) and the Bazar-e Honar. Revenues from these buildings paid for the upkeep of the madraseh.
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Ateshkadeh-ye Esfahan
Dating from Sassanian times, the crumbling mud bricks of the Ateshkadeh-ye Esfahan stare out over the Zayandeh River and the city from a low hill on its outskirts. The 10-minute scramble uphill is worth the effort on a clear day.
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Gerdab-e-Sangi
Gerdab-e-Sangi is a 1600-year-old Sassanian stone reservoir, 18m in diameter, said to be the world’s oldest. Spring water wells up within and once provided the proto-city’s water supply.
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Takieh Biglar Begi
The lesser known Takieh Biglar Begi now houses a fairly cursory calligraphy museum, but is worth visiting for its dazzling mirror-tiled central dome-room.
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Masjed-e Ganj Ali Khan
At the square’s northeastern end is Masjed-e Ganj Ali Khan, Ganj Ali Khan’s lavishly decorated private mosque.
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