Iran, when prejudices are silenced – Part 4

 

 

Buildings, gardens and parks are the things, without which we cannot imagine visiting Iran and leaving out Shiraz.

 

Shiraz is the capital of the province Fars. It became more and more important after the Arabs came in 13th century and it started becoming one of the biggest and most popular Islamic cities in this time. The most important Persian poets Hafez and Sa’di were born and died here in Shiraz. Hafez is known as the greatest master of Persian lyric poetry and Sa’di is known after his work Golestan. Their tombs are located in Shiraz. 

 

But first things first. 

 

In the city centre you can find the mighty Arg-e-Karim Khan, citadel of khan Karim, which is surrounded by 14-metre-high walls and was built because of the competition between Shiraz and Isfahan. The mighty citadel with a renowned leaning tower has a beautiful garden of citrus trees, which are surrounding the pool. The citadel is one of the sights, which we should definitely visit. 

 

After a short walk, we get to the square, where the city museum is located. The city museum is keeping the sword of khan Kharim and his tomb. In the museum there’s also a big collection from the Zand dynasty, and also a pavilion where khan Kharim was meeting foreign men of importance. 

 

 

Not far from there, in bazaar “Vakil”, the famous Masjed-e Vakil or mosque Vakil is located. There you’ll find a beautiful marble pulpit or “minbar” with 14 steps. It consistsmonolith, which was brought here from Azerbaijan, which is about 1500 kilometres away. There’s a classical swimming pool Hamam-e Vakil by the mosque, which is available for viewing and both things are located by the bazaar Valik, which gives charm to the central part of Shiraz.

 

I also have to mention the following temples and mosques:

 

– Aramgah-e Shah-e Cheragh, a mausoleum of the king of light and a complex with big and nicely decorated courtyard. Foreigners aren’t permitted to enter the temple, but if you ask, you might get a permission to enter in a small group. You’re not allowed to take photos inside the temple, but photographing is allowed on the courtyard. The complex is open 24 hours. As foreigners, you must ask for a company in English. 

 

– Masjed-e Nasir-ol-Molk is a mosque, which the locals call Pink Mosque. It was built in 19th century and is decorated with beautiful windows with coloured glass, which give amazing reflections, which is why the mosque is named Pink Mosque. A hint – visit the mosque early in the morning when the sunlight is coming through the coloured glass.

 

– Masjed-e Shohada is one of the biggest ancient mosques in Iran with a courtyard, which is 11,000 square metres big. It is a mosque, built in 13th century and is still active today. On Fridays there are prayers and Friday is also the only day we can visit it. 

 

 

Shiraz is also famous for its gardens and parks around them so it makes sense to say a word or two about them. 

 

Bagh-e Nazar (Eye-catching Garden) is located in the city centre and is surrounding the museum. The park is among smaller ones, but it’s really nice. The next smaller park is Bagh-e Najanjestan or garden of oranges, which is known for the pavilion Naranjestan-e Ghavam, which is located in the park. Two wonderful parks are located near the magnificent tombs of Iranian poets Sa’di and Hafez. The most beautiful garden, which is also on Unesco’s list of world heritage, is Bagh-e Eram or Paradise Garden. The name speaks for itself. Its reputation and being on Unesco’s list mean bigger crowd in the park. And for the end, I recommend a visit to “Bagh-e Jahan Nama”, which isn’t much behind the paradise garden, but it’s much less crowded and you’ll be able to find a peaceful spot to take a break from discovering Shiraz.

 

Before we take off to Persepolis it is worth stopping at Darvazeh-ye Quran or Quran Gateway where a big Koran was kept. Underneath the Koran, the visitors were able to enter the city. If you want to try smoking a water pipe, there’s a big pub, which is purposed for smoking water pipe and having fun listening good music.

 

Persepolis, which is located an hour outside of Shiraz, personifies big success, as well as the ruin of Achaemenid empire. It was 125,000 square metres high at its peak and was one of the four cities in the heart of the empire, which was located all the way from Indian-Pakistani border to Ethiopia. Persepolis, which is of course on the Unesco world heritage list, should be one of the top priorities to visit. Only the history and the architecture would take a few pages to cover so I’m going to skip that. But if you want to dig deep in the history and the meaning of Persepolis you’ll soon find out why Alexander the Great is here named Alexander the Destroyer. You can take a guided tour to Persepolis from Shiraz. The price is low and this is the best way to visit it. If you take a half-day trip, you will also visit Necropolis or Naqsh-e Rostam. Its tombs are carved into a stone and here rest Darius II, Artaxerxes I, Darius I and Xerxes I. If you decide to take a whole day trip the tour guides also take you to Parsagade, where you can find Cyrus tomb, private palace, Salomon’s prison and so much more on 1847 metres above the sea level. 

 

 

There’s a lot more interesting things to see nearby Shiraz and if you have enough time, you can also visit Iranian nomads. Even though the authorities are trying to organize the settlements where the nomads could live, there are still around a million nomads in Iran. Because they move around a lot, it is impossible to tell you where they are, but I’m sure that the friendly locals will tell you how you can meet them. And with this I’m ending part 4 of my story. In the next part you’re kindly invited to the beginning. To Teheran to where I travelled by a domestic flight of an unknown airline company to us but it offers a high quality flight (even more than many European flights and I’m not talking low budget).