Blogs from South, Iran, Middle East

http://www.heygo.com 13th March - Old Vakil Bazaar, Old and Historical Market in Shiraz. Karim Khan Citadel was constructed in 1697 when the Zand Dynasty was ruling the country. When Karim Khan Zand selected Shiraz as the capital city, lots of significant changes were made. He invited the most professional architects and artists to Shiraz and asked them to build this really amazing structure. Karim Khan Citadel has had various functions in different historical eras. It was the living place of Karim Khan Zand in the Zand Dynasty, the living place of local rulers in the Qajar Dynasty, and prison in the Pahlavi Dynasty. For now it is transformed into a museum. In 1972, Karim Khan Citadel was registered in the National Heritage of Iran. The dominant material used in this structure is stone and stucco. One ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 10th March - Paradise on Earth, Persian Garden and Mansion - Shiraz The garden and mansion of Narenjestan, named after the many citrus trees planted in the garden, was built in 1870. During its prospering days, in the Qajar era, Narenjestan was the meeting place of nobles and dignitaries. In the Pahlavi era the Qavam family lost its high status and the governmental positions it had gained during the rule of Qajars. At this time, Narenjestan was donated to the University of Shiraz. It is now a museum. As we entered the domed ceiling was just a glimpse of what was to come. In the courtyard the painted panels on the walls depict the servants serving food, and above them, some episodes from The Book of Kings. The typical Persian garden design I had remembered ... read more

We are writing this blog post from Amman, the capital of Jordan, thinking back to the last part of our journey through Iran, which remains a weird country if you think about the way the government and religious leaders don't respect internationally accepted human rights and laws. But these so called leaders are absolutely not representing the real country and its people as we discovered. We have fully embraced the people of Iran as they have embraced us with their friendliness, politeness and extreme hospitality. Iran truly is a fantastic travelling country. From Masshad we went to Qa'en and then to Birjand where we arranged a car and driver willing to bring us to Deh Salm a small oasis village in the middle of the desert. The journey itself was already worth it and we stopped ... read more

Sat 4 November Esfahan to Shiraz After a fairly straight forward, if long, drive we arrived in Shiraz in late afternoon. Another historic city with plenty to see - and we only touched the surface. Just enough afternoon daylight for us to walk to the formal gardens near the hotel; these were nice if quite simple and going into the autumn colours. We also visited the Tomb of Hafez as darkness fell. A nice spot and very popular with locals and tourists. We had dinner near the hotel - Susan managed to order a dish of liver, heart and kidney (she loved it), I had a koobiyeh (simple lamb kebab). Sunday was spent at Persepolis (see separate entry). In the evening we had a walk into town and ended up at the small friendly Café Naqashi ... read more

PERSEPOLIS MARCH 6, 2017 This morning we started off a little earlier to go to Persepolis. It took about 1 Hour and 20 minutes to get to the site. This site was selected by Darius the Great around 518 B.C. Persepolis was never intended to serve as the capital of the empire but was rather a site in the heartland of their empire that they used for special celebrations. Xerxes and Artaxerxes continued building on the site and expanding it. Resting on a terrace platform,Persepolis was the acropolis of Parsa, the “city of Persians”. It extends over an area of 125,000 sq meters, and crowns a rocky promontory which projects from Mount Mithra. The platform is flanked on both sides by valleys where the houses of nobility were built. Further out from this were the mud ... read more