Shushtar’s raison d’être for millennia was controlling the irrigation of the Khuzestan plains, and the town’s most famous attraction is a set of ancient watermills. Actually, these aren’t buildings at all but a powerful arc of cascading water chutes that are strangely mesmerising, especially when floodlit at night. They’re especially impressive considering that the water is fed through ancient man-made feeder tunnels. One mill has been reconstructed so you can observe an old paddle-wheel device turning a millstone. Entrance is down steps beside an attractive blue-facaded building now home to souvenir and pickle shops. You can see the watermills site almost as well by simply peering over the parapet of the Shari’ati St bridge (one block south of 17 Shahrivar Sq), or even better by climbing the hill behind: follow signs to the attractively renovated Marashi House .
