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QAZVIN Qazvin - like Ardabil, Esfahan, Mashhad, Neishabur, Shiraz, and Sultanieh - was in its day (in the 16th century AD under the Safavid Tahmaseb I) the capital of Iran. Already to the west of Tehran and the capital of a province of the same name and with a population of nearly 362,208 inhabitants, it lies in an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level in the northwest corner of the great central plateau of Iran, in the angle formed by the converging Alborz and Zagros mountain systems. Not unduly hot in summer, its cold in winter is often severe. Under such climatic conditions, peasants are growing and producing pistachio, almond, hazelnut, grapes, apple, and walnut. It is 130 km to the northwest of Tehran by a highway and rail, as well as 210 km to the northeast of Hamadan on a first class asphalt road. Much of its importance is due to the fact that it is on a road junction. It is situated on the great Khorassan highway from Baghdad to Tehran and beyond, at the point where the route to Rasht and Anzali branches off to the northwest. Existence of numerous historic sites in such a town on the tourist's way to Sultanieh and Tabriz, the Caspian or Hamadan would justify a halt. The town can even be the goal of a special excursion from Tehran (one and a half hours on an excellent highway). Qazvin has been devastated by earthquakes more than once, and what remains is only a shadow of its former splendor, although there are still some fine Safavid and Seljuk structures intact. It has been flourishing rapidly after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and become the center of many modern agro-industrial complexes and universities. Jam'e Kabir Mosque The most interesting buildings of Qazvin (or even of Iran, according to some historians) is the Friday Mosque (Masjid-e Jom'eh), now called Masjid-e Jam'e Kabir, with four ivans round a large central courtyard and an area of more than 4,000 square meters, located in the west of Shohada Street. The square hall of prayer (known as the Khomar Tash prayer hall and dome) in the southern ivan has a mihrab of a peculiar marble that seems to have magnetic qualities; the schoolboys will show you how pebbles stick to its surface. The mosque was built in 1106-1153, but several times enlarged and improved, notably under Shah Abbas the Great. Some even claim that it was founded by the Abbasid caliph Harun or Rashid in the late 18th century, on the ruins of a Sassanian fire temple. The Kuffic inscription on a frieze below the pendentives has recently been expertly restored. Two magnificent lovely minarets face the northern 11-m by 11.5 m portal ivan standing on a higher level, which was restored by Shah Abbas. The mosque comprises a portal, a facade and a vast courtyard. The most ancient part of the mosque is Masjid-e Haruni, which adjoins the entrance corridor. On the site of this simple domed mosque, there seems to have originally existed a four arched fire temple.
The Prophet's Mosque The next place worthy of visiting is Masjid on-Nabi (the Prophet's Mosque, known as Masjid-e Shah or the Royal Mosque until the downfall of Pahlavi dynasty) located in the south of Imam Khomeini Street. Apart from being in the heart of bazaar, it is a 19th-century Qajar creation (during the reign of Fath Ali Shah) which will forcibly remind you of the mosques of Shiraz, particularly Masjid-e Vakil, because of its ceramic floral decorations and tile mosaics. The magnificent four ivans round a large central courtyard are richly decorated with colorful tiles and Kuffic inscriptions.
Madraseh Heidariyeh Madraseh Heidariyeh, a seminary school in Balaghi Alley 250 m south-east of the Ali Qapu, was a beautiful little Madraseh built in early twelfth century (thus a Seljuk work) with a square hall on the plan of a Sassanian fire temple. But whereas a Sassanian fire temple was set in the center of a courtyard, the Seljuk practice, true to Islam, was for the hall to face Mecca. Perhaps the finest Kuffic inscription in relief in all Iran is in its stucco frieze. Its carved very attractive stucco mihrab is massively rich and one of the loveliest pieces of Seljuk art extant. Of the main construction, there remains only a roofless brick prayer hall. Imamzadeh Hossein The Mausoleum of Imamzadeh Hossein (also known as Shahzadeh Hossein), the direct son of the Eighth Imam in the center of the cemetery of the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and the Imposed War of Iraq against Iran to the south west of the town, has a magnificent blue cupola preceded by a portal with six small minarets, in the best baroque style. Hossein was, according to local legend, killed when a roof fell on him after performing a miracle. According to another legend, he fell sick, died, and was buried to Qazvin when accompanying his father to Khorassan. His shrine has long been an attraction for pilgrims and lies within the cemetery, paved with tombstones and surrounded by high, arcaded walls. The elaborately decorated octagonal domed building over his tomb, dating in part from the reign of Shah Tahmasp (1524-76) when Qazvin was the Safavid capital, was erected, according to a tiled inscription, by command of his daughter, Zainab Begum. The latest date to be seen in the mausoleum is 1588 AD, which coincides with reign of Shah Tahmasp the Safavid, and is carved upon the doors of the portico and the harem. A second date, i.e. 1630 AD, can be found at the end of a historical mosaic inscription near the cemetery. However, the mirror work of the talar and some of the faience tiling dates from the 19th century. Mustawfi's Mausoleum Not far from Madraseh Heidariyeh in Mustawfi Street, is the mausoleum of the Qazvini historian Hamdollah Mustawfi (c 1281-1350), a follower of the first world historian Rashid-ad Din. Under the building, there is a crypt with the historian's tomb in it. Mustawfi was also a geographer, and his Zafar Nameh (Book of Victory, 1335) was one of the many continuations of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh by which Persian authors since the eleventh century have aspired to literary and national immortality. This fourteenth-century structure consists of a brick base, a circular body, a tile inscription, two bands of stalactite works and, higher up, a pointed conical dome which has recently been decorated with a tile covering in the Mongol style. For the traveler, however, Mustawfi's tomb merits special homage for his cosmological and geographical compendium Nuz'hat ol-Qulub (Hearts Delight, 1340), a book treating of the contemporary notions concerning the origins and compositions of the universe, with a useful description of the state of contemporary Iran city by city. Ali Qapu Portal The only remaining parts of the lofty structure of Ali Qapu in Qazvin, once as highly reputed as the present Ali Qapu of Esfahan, are the portal and its azure mosaic-tile. Thulth inscription by the famous calligrapher Ali Reza Abbassi. According to the text of the inscription, the Ali Qapu palace counts as one of the important monuments dating from the reign of Shah Tahmasp I and Shah Abbas the Great. Its concluding section containing the date of the construction has disappeared. The present portal was the entrance leading to the royal palace. There remain two side-rooms flanking the portal, which also possesses a large vestibule. The side rooms of the entrance door had once served as the Royal Naqqareh Khaneh (Drum House), and the guards posts. Chehel Sutun Located in a park in the center of the town (Azadi Square), this is a small palace of the Safavid period. Then known as the kolah farangui, actually it was the royal palace of Shah Tahmasb built on plans provided by a Turk architect. It is a two-storied building, characteristic of the arcaded pavilions of the period, such as those of Hast Behesht palace in Esfahan. Inside, fragments of paintings on the walls and ceiling are still visible, and the interior is currently being restored. In places, one can clearly see several layers of paint, the result of a common feature of Iranian interior decoration, which was to plaster and then paint over existing designs without removing them. A superb wooden Safavid coffin has been placed in the corridor near the corner. The second floor has turned into a museum since 1965. The museum contains a variety of objects, including Neolithic pottery and bronzes from tombs in the Alamut area, decorated tilework and Qajar handicrafts. Gateways of Qazvin There are two more Qajar constructions in Qazvin, both monumental gateways. The first, the Darb-e Kushk or Darvazeh Kushk, in the north of town on Hafez Avenue, was built in 1917. It is richly decorated in blue, yellow, and white tilework. Above the central arch is the old emblem of Iran, the lion and the sun (the crowns of the lion have now been removed). The second gateway, known as the Gateway to Tehran or Darvazeh Tehran, can be seen at the eastern exit of town, on the road to Tehran. It was restored in the 1960s. Hosseiniyeh Aminiha The famous structure of Hosseiniyeh Aminiha ranks among the takaya (mourning halls) left as pious endowments. The building consists of large, small, and underground halls and the whole is decorated with mirror works and other ornamentation in the Qajar style. It also possesses large wooden sash windows with colored panes. The place is counted as on of the reputable centers for holding mourning ceremonies in Qazvin. Called after its founder and benefactor the late Haji Mohammad Reza Amini, its date of the endowment is 1816 AD. The Castles of the Assassin Those who favor ambitious excursions and unusual historical episodes are recommended to hire a car and a guide to go near the source of the Alamut river on the southern foothills of the Alborz Mountains (requiring one full day for the return journey). There, fortified eagles' nests recall unbelievable but authentic adventures of the "Old Man of the Mountains" - Hassan Sabah, The Grand Master (1040-1124) - and of his sect of "Assassins" or "Hashashins." The historic fortresses are known as the Castles of the Assassins, which were first introduced into European literature by the returning Crusaders, and made famous this century in Dane Freya Stark's classical Valleys of the Assassins. These were the heavily fortified lairs of the adherents of a bizarre religious cult, based loosely on the precepts of the Ismaili Sect. The cult was founded in the 11th century by Hassan Sabah. This heretical and widely feared sect sent out killers throughout the region to murder the leading political and religious figures. Its followers, the Hashishiyun, were so called because of their leader's alleged cunning ruse of taking them into beautiful secret gardens (filled with equally enticing young maidens), getting them stoned on hashish and then sending them out on their homicidal assignments under the illusion that Hassan Sabah had the power to transport them to paradise. The cult at its height extended from Syria to Khorassan. Until 1256, when the Mongols captured its castles, the Assassins spread fear throughout the region, although some scholars claim that their reputation was exaggerated. As one might expect, the outlaw mountain hideaways were designed to be impregnable and inaccessible, and to this day it is still extremely difficult to visit them; a complete tour of the castles in this region would take about a week on horseback with a local guide. Many of them are only accessible to experienced and well-equipped mountaineers. However, the castle of Alamut, one of the most famous of all, is nowadays more or less accessible by 4wd in dry weather, if one can find a guide or driver in Qazvin willing and able to take you there. It was originally built in 860, and captured in 1090 by the Assassins, who occupied it until 1256. There are many buildings and places of interest in Qazvin, which you will encounter when strolling through the streets of the town. Be careful not to miss the Qazvin Museum. Qazvin is also noteworthy for its wooden houses with peristyles painted blue, pink or mauve; and so charming that they may seduce you to rise early in the morning and photograph them before having breakfast. Sefid Rud Dam Another highly recommended and less energetic excursion, even if you do not pursue it as far as the Caspian Sea, consists in a visit to the Sefid Rud Dam. The excellent road, leading to Rasht and Bandar-e Anzali having crossed the watershed without difficulty, enters into the colorful gorges of an affluent of Shahrud river. Eighty kilometers from Qazvin, you cross the river near a picturesque old bridge called Pol-e Lowshan. Ten kilometers further on, you suddenly discover a turquoise blue lake set amidst mountains which are snow-covered until the beginning of April. It is the reservoir for the great dam at the confluent of the Qizil Uzan and Shah Rud rivers. You can see the dam in the prospective of the valley looking toward the village of Manjil. Further downstream Rubdar announces the pleasant Guilan region with its square houses with metal roofs scattered among the olive-and poplar trees on the slopes of the valley.
ACCESS AND DISTANCES: 148km to Tehran. 227 km to Hamadan. 171 km to Zanjan. 449 km to Tabriz. 177 km to Rasht. ACCIDENTS: 32000, 22637. BANK MELLI IRAN: On Taleghani Street. BUS TERMINAL: (Former) Tehran Square 27524. CITY DIALING CODE NUMBER: The dialing code for Qazvin is 0281. DRUG STORE (24-HOUR):
EMERGENCIES: 115, 28100, 21100. FIRE STATION: 27777, 24444, 29000. GOVERNOR'S OFFICE: Farmandari 30374-5. MEDICAL SERVICES:
MUNICIPALITY: 27001-6. PASSPORT: 34123. POLICE: 110, 23623, 29559, 23626. POST AND TELECOMMUNCATIONS: 116, 22010, 23334, 23612, 28000. RAILWAY STATION: 23481-3. RESTAURANTS:
TAXI AGENT: 1. Alborz 22011 2. Homa 38205 3. Jam 35400 4. Payam 38877 TOURIST MAP: Available in English and Persian. TOURIST OFFICE: At the end of Azadi Ave 33879, 38200, 31676, and 33363.
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