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Glory of Ancient Persia from My Point of View (Page 3)

My Travels Home Mianeh Kish Island West India Qeshm Island Chabahar Ancient Persia Kelardasht UK Hamburg Italy Egypt Paris Budapest

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All photographs of this album by Sohail Forouzan-sepehr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.  Using any photograph is only permitted by referring full-name of the photographer & the website as: "Photograph taken by Sohail Forouzan-sepehr"

4-8 June 2007, Homa Hotel (5*), Shiraz, Iran

(Also Persepolis, Pasargadae, Firuzabad, Kazerun)

Shiraz

Shiraz Local Time
Shiraz, an ancient city in south-western Iran and capital of Fars Province, located in the Zagros Mountains, is a commercial centre of the surrounding region, which produces grapes, citrus fruit, cotton, and rice. It is known as the city of poetry, wine, roses, and also considered by many Iranians to be the City of Love due to the many gardens and fruit-trees that can be seen in the city. Shiraz is most likely more than 4000 years old. The earliest reference to the city is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC, found in June of 1970, while digging to make a kiln for a brick making factory in SW corner of the city. The tablets written in ancient Elamite, name a city called "Tiraziš" [Ref: George G Cameron (1948); "Persepolis Treasury Tablets", University of Chicago Press, pp 115]. The name Shiraz also appears on clay sealings found at Qasr e Abu-Nasr, a Sassanid ruin, east of the city (2nd century AD). As early as the 11th century several hundred thousand people inhabited Shiraz. It had an estimated population of 1,255,955 in 2005. Incidentally the oldest sample of wine in the world dating to approximately 7000 years ago was also discovered on clay jars recovered outside of Shiraz. The city is also famous for its people hospitality.

141. An outside view of Homa Hotel. Though it is the only 5-star hotel in Shiraz, I couldn't find any vegetarian dishes (except mushroom omelette) in its restaurants or room service menu.

"Pleasant is Shiraz and its incomparable state;
Oh lord, preserve it from decline."

- Hafez (Translated from Persian)

142. An outside panoramic view from the window of my room in the second floor of the hotel.

143. My room in Homa Hotel 144 to 146. The Quran Gate originally built as an ornamental entrance by the Buyids or Buwayhids (945–1055 AD), an Iranian dynasty of Daylamite (northern Iranian) origin, and was ignorantly demolished about 70 years ago. The present gate was erected on its site later by a local merchant.

147. The Quran Gate and lights of the city of love, Shiraz. Travellers exiting the city would pass under the gate as a tradition in beseeching protection from the holy book for the course of their trip. A hand-written copy of the Quran was actually kept on top of the gate which is kept today at the Pars Museum in Shiraz.

148. Another shot of the Quran Gate.

149 & 150. Lights of the poetical capital of Iran, the city of love, and the homeland of "Shiraz" wine.

150. Residence of Khaju-ye Kermani or Khaju of Kerman (1280-1352 AD), an Iranian Sufi mystic poet, now has been changed to a humble shop.

151, 152 & 153. A promenade near the Quran Gate, somewhere like Darband in Tehran.

154 to 157. A traditional cafe and promenade near the Quran Gate, somewhere like Darband in Tehran.

158 to 161. "Ali ebn e Hamzeh" old bridge on a dry river.

162 to 164. No reference to Shiraz would be complete without mentioning the gardens of Shiraz, and the nightingales that sing in its rose-bowers and inspired its immortal poets. One the most beautiful and notable of these gardens is Eram...

165. "Eram Garden" is a famous historic Persian garden in Shiraz. Built in the Qajar era by Mohammad-Gholi Khan e Ilkhani including a very beautiful building constructed by Mohammad-Hassan e Me'mar, the compound was used by the feudal elite and tribal leaders of Fars Province, and later used by the royalty of Iran. The compound came under the protection of Pahlavi University during the Pahlavi era, and was used as the College of Law. It is today still a property of Shiraz University, and is open to the public as a museum, protected by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization.

166 & 167. The building inside Eram Garden is an example of Qajarid architecture. "Eram" is originally the name of a garden mentioned in Quran and compared with Heaven.

171. Inside Eram Garden

168. A beautiful Orange tree in Eram Garden

169. Inside Eram Garden

170. Inside Eram Garden

178. Inside Eram Garden

172 & 173. Inside Eram Garden

174. Pomegranate trees in Eram Garden

175 & 176. Inside Eram Garden

177. Inside Eram Garden

179 to 181. Inside Eram Garden

186. Pomegranate trees in Eram Garden. Throughout the Orient, the pomegranate has since earliest times occupied a position of importance and is considered indigenous to Iran and neighbouring countries. It was the symbol of love and fertility.

182 & 183. Inside Eram Garden

187. A very old cedar in Eram Garden

184. Eram as a symbol of Persian Gardens and Qajarid architecture

185. Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque is one of the most beautiful mosques I have ever seen.

188. Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque was built during the Qajar era by the order of Mirza Hasan-Ali e Nasir-ol-Molk, one of the lords of the Qajar Dynasty, in 1876 AD and was finished in 1888.

189.  Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque

190. Inside view of Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque

191. Inside view of Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque

193. A window glasswork craftsmanship of the Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque interiors

197. Interior of the mosque

192. Inside view of Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque

195. The facade of the mosque

194. The facade of the mosque

196. Courtyard view

198. Interior of the mosque

199. Another manifestation of colours

200. An outside view

201. Another outside view

202 to 206. "Gav Chah" (=bull well), a place in the mosque where water was drained out from a well by the power of two bulls and reserved in a high-levelled reservoir to use in the fountains of the mosque yard.

207. A residence for the mosque attendants

 

208. The building of Cultural Heritage Organisation of Shiraz

209. A panoramic view of the mosque courtyard

 

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