Esfehan - Half the World

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Geo: 32.6525, 51.6746

Or, as my Farsi speaking ex-colleague Maryam has already pointed out, the proper anglicisation of the Farsi (rather than a translation) is Esfehan nesfe jahan. Sounds better

It owes its splendour to one Shah Abbas I, in 1587, who arranged for the construction of the great central square Naqsh-e Jahan which is home to two glorious mosques (Masjed-e Shah and Masjid-e Sheik Lotfollah - the latter a private family mosque) and the palace Kakh-e Ali Qapu. Also the starting point for the 8 kilometres of Bazar-e Bozorg.

But that isn't all, there are more palaces, beautiful gardens, the 800 year old Masjid-e Jameh (mosque) which having been continuously developed and enlarged is a living history of Islamic architecture. There are also beautiful bridges, the earliest dating back to the 12th century, though sadly not a drop of water has run under any of them for 2 years. Too much water taken for steelworks and agriculture and general wastage and too little rainfall. Paddle boats for hire sit forlornly on the dry river bed.

I could spend thousands of words describing the splendour of it all. But I will let my inadequate pictures speak for me.

It isn't all wonderful - it's a big city with a population over 2 million and manic drivers!

Everone is surprised when I tell them Liz and I were in Iran 35 plus years ago. I can't wait to get home and finally sort out the pictures we took then and place them in the right towns.

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Comments

[Sebastian]

Great photo, love this. Should there be water running through here?

[Jan]

Geoff remembers swimming in the river there!

[redheadpeter]

there certainly should