-
St Mary’s
According to local Assyrian Orthodox Christians, St Mary’s was founded by St Thomas on the gravesite of one of the Biblical magi, the pre-Islamic Persian priests who trotted across to Bethlehem to greet the infant Jesus, inventing Christmas presents in the process. This, the Assyri
-
Carpet Museum Of Iran
Just north of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Carpet Museum houses more than 100 pieces dating from the 17th century to the present day. It’s a great place to see the full range of regional patterns and styles found in Iran, plus a few unique carpets such as the Tree of Life wi
-
Madraseh
In 1615, Imam Gholi Khan, governor of Fars, founded this serene theological college for about 100 students. The original building has been extensively damaged by earthquakes and only the impressive portal at its entrance has survived; look for the unusual muqarnas inside the outer
-
Qareh Kalisa
Splendid outside, though plain within, Qareh Kalisa is the best maintained of all Iran’s medieval churches. It’s alternatively known as Kalisa-ye Tadi (Church of St Thaddaeus) for St Thaddaeus (aka Tatavoos) who supposedly founded a church here in AD 43. Some say he came with apost
-
Imamzadeh
This is the tomb of Emir Ali, a nephew of Shah Cheragh who also died here while en route to Khorasan to help Imam Reza. The existing shrine was built in the 19th century after earthquakes destroyed previous incarnations, and has separate areas for males and females. Highlights incl
-
Park
Also known as Stone Garden, Park-e Jamshidiyeh climbs steeply up the lower reaches of the Alborz Mountains and offers a clean and relatively quiet atmosphere in which to enjoy the views and escape the smog. It’s the sort of place you could happily while away an entire afternoon sip
-
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 wha
-
Persepolis Museum
Scholars can’t seem to agree about the original function of the building that now houses the site’s museum , which is accessed via stairs east of the Tripylon. Some believe it was a harem for the king’s consorts and concubines, but others believe that it was a residence for visitin
-
Azarbayjan Museum
This museum is 50m west of the Blue Mosque. Enter through a great brick portal with big wooden doors guarded by two stone rams. Ground-floor exhibits include finds from Hasanlu (an Iron Age town that developed into a citadel over 4000 years), a superb 3000-year-old copper helmet an
-
Amir Chakhmaq Complex
The stunning three-storey facade of this Hosseinieh makes it one of the largest such structures in Iran. 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.
-
Main Museum
Bequests and donations from the faithful fill the Haram’s fascinatingly eclectic museums. The Main Museum kicks off with chunks of now-superseded shrine decor interspersed with contemporary sporting medals presented by pious athletes, while the basement stamp collection includes a
-
Jolfa: The Armenian Quarter
The Armenian quarter of Esfahan dates from the time of Shah Abbas I, who transported a 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 and he e
-
Harireh
Artefacts found during excavation of this settlement indicate that it was established around AD 1000 AD, occupied 120 hectares and was abandoned around 1600. Its residents made their living mainly through fishing and pearl diving. The site – now referred to as Harireh Ancient City
-
Milad Tower (Borj
Totally dominating the low-rise skyline of Tehran’s western suburbs, Milad Tower finally opened in 2008 after 13 on-again-off-again years of construction. Standing 435m high, including 120m of antenna, in 2012 it was the world’s sixth-tallest freestanding tower. The tower bears a s
-
Palace of 100 Columns
With an extravagant hall measuring almost 70m square and supported by 100 stone columns, the Palace of 100 Columns was the second-largest building at Persepolis, built during the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes I. Some scholars believe it was used to receive the military elite upon
-
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 pi
-
Astane Square
The city’s main square is fringed by souvenir shops and has an ugly modern fountain at its centre. Located on the northeast side of the shrine, it’s a fantastic place to spend an hour or two people-watching – particularly in the early evening, when it is busiest and most atmospheri
-
Private Palaces
The southwestern corner of the site is dominated by palaces believed to have been constructed during the reigns of Darius and Xerxes. The Tachara is easily the most striking, with many of its monolithic doorjambs still standing and covered in bas-reliefs and cuneiform inscriptions.
-
Film Museum of Iran
Housed in a Qajar-era mansion that includes Iran’s first cinema, the film museum has well-displayed and explained (in English) exhibits of equipment, photos and posters from Iran’s century-old movie industry. It’s interesting, even if you are not well-versed in Iranian film, and th
-
Takieh Mo’aven ol
Distinctively Shiite, Hosseiniehs are shrines where plays are acted out during the Islamic month of Moharram, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein at Karbala (AD 680). The finest of these theatres cum religious buildings, is the Takieh Mo’aven ol-Molk.Enter down stairs, thro
Total
278 -travel
FirstPage PreviousPage NextPage LastPage CurrentPage:
11/14 20-travel/Page Goto:
