Khan-e Lari


This 150-year-old building is one of the best-preserved Qajar-era houses in Yazd. The badgirs, traditional doors, stained-glass windows, elegant archways and alcoves distinguish it as one of the city’s grandest homes. It is worth noting the particularly delicate white-and-cream plaster work, traced with slivers of mirror, that decorate the courtyard iwans. The merchant family who built the mansion have long gone, and it’s now home to a set of archives. It’s signposted west of Zaiee Sq.

The son of the owner of this house had a penchant for Western women and the walls and ceiling of one of the rooms is dedicated to their demure (and not so demure) portraits. Another interesting feature of the house is the sitting platform with all four legs in the water to avoid the harassment of scorpions – a reminder that the desert is only just kept at bay in this desert city.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Alexander’s Prison

0.18 MILES

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…

2. Tomb of the 12 Imams

0.19 MILES

The early-11th-century brick Tomb of the 12 Imams, neighbouring Alexander’s Prison, forms one side of Zaiee Sq, in the heart of Yazd's historic old city…

3. Old City

0.21 MILES

With its numerous badgirs (windtowers) rising above a labyrinth of adobe roofs, the historic old city of Yazd is one of the oldest towns on earth. Listed…

4. Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin

0.39 MILES

The beautiful blue-tiled dome of the tomb of local Islamic notable Sayyed Roknaddin Mohammed Qazi is visible from any elevated point in the city. Built…

5. Masjed-e Jameh

0.4 MILES

Soaring above the old city, this magnificent building is graced with a tiled entrance portal (one of the tallest in Iran), flanked by two 48m-high…

6. Yazd Water Museum

0.83 MILES

Yazd is famous for its qanats (underground aqueducts) and this museum, one of the best of its kind, is devoted to the brave men who built them. Located in…

7. Imam Zadeh Jafar

0.83 MILES

This magnificent modern shrine is best experienced at night when the lighting is inspirational, both from the courtyard outside and from within the…

8. Saheb A Zaman Zurkhaneh

0.86 MILES

The cavernous ab anbar (water reservoir), built around 1580, resembles a 29m-high standing egg from the inside. Crowned with five burly badgirs, this…