Blogs from West, Iran, Middle East - page 10

Starting early morning we are departing Esfahan which I feel is not a moment too soon. We are looking at a drive of roughly 400 km to reach Tehran. First we will be going north to Kashan, then northwest to Qom before reaching Tehran in the evening. We make an early stop in a small town near Esfahan to look at the local mosque, and Mr. Bergman buys yet another little souvenir in spite of the protests of his wife. The next stop is a slight detour from the route to Kashan via the village Natanz. This name is nowadays (2005) closely associated with the Iranian uranium enrichment program, but to us it is simply the home village of Mr. Hoseyn, and when he invites us to have some tea at his mother's place we are ... read more

Our first destination is the most obvious of the local tourist traps, the gigantic Naqsh-e-Jahan Square. A roughly 500 meter long plaza surrounded by a slew of interesting buildings, dominated by the imposing Imam Hoseyn Mosque (a.k.a. Abbasi Jame Mosque) to the south, the smaller and more exquisite Sheikh Lotf Ol-lah Mosque to the east and the cryptically christened Ali Qapoo Edifice, a palace-like structure built under Shah Abbas I as a place for his audiences to the west. Most of the square is occupied by a big park with fountains, and tourist minded carriages are making their way around the square in circular patterns. The Grand Imam Hoseyn Mosque with its 52 meter tall dome looks great, its decorated walls shimmering in the morning light, but as with many mosques its disposition makes photography very ... read more

A morning IranAir flight brought us down from Tehran to Esfahan (or Isfahan). There were indeed wonders to behold in this city. The principal destination was the Maidan, or Naqsh-e-Jahan Square (called Shah Square then). The central structure is the imposing Masjed-e Shah or Shah Mosque (now known as the Imam Mosque). The mosque was begun in 1611 during the reign of Shah Abbas I (1571-1629), who rebuilt Esfahan as his capital. It was simply stunning with its mosaic tile ornamentation and the elegant blue tiled dome was especially memorable. The mosque is considered to represent the high point of Persian architecture in the period of the Safavid Dynasty (16th-17th centuries). Along with Naqsh-e Jahan Square, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Most of the famous historic structures in the city date ... read more