SULTANIEH

On the way to Zanjan, Tabriz, Ardabil and Rasht by road, you will have the opportunity to visit some of Iran’s historic sites in towns along the highway from Tehran to the north and northwest Iran. Your probable stay in Zanjan will give you the chance to see the Mausoleum of Oljaitu at Sultanieh, and prepare your imagination to visualize the metropolis that was once Tabriz.

Sultanieh – the town of Sultans – 285 km to the northwest of Tehran in Zanjan province, in an altitude of 1,900 m above sea level, is six km along a road which turns south off the main road which turns south of the main road from Qazvin to Zanjan, 37 km southeast of Zanjan. The y-junction (the Serah-e Sultanieh) can be reached by bus from Qazvin or Zanjan, and from there you hitch. Like the latter, Sultanieh was built by the Mongols as belated expiation for the wholesale destruction they wrought during the conquest of Iran. Arghun Khan founded Sultanieh in the last decade of the 13th century, and it was enhanced during the reign of his sons Ghazan and Oljaitu during the early 14th century.

By the command of Oljaitu, Ghazan’s younger brother and successor (1304-16), there arose on the beautiful open meadows of Sultanieh a wonder city planned to be the imperial capital. Begun in 1305 and dedicated in 1313, it was built magnificently and rapidly. The result was a complex almost the size of Tabriz, dominated by Qlijatu’s Mausoleum, one of Iran’s supreme architectural achievements. The building was the climax of a congeries of subordinate buildings no longer extant.

Founder’s is one of the most curious stories in Central Asian religious history. He was baptized Nicholas as an infant and had been converted to Buddhism before he became a Sunni Muslim of the Hanafi sect. But after visiting Najaf in the winter of 1309-10 this most impressionable Mongol was persuaded to Shi’ite Islam and decided to dedicate the great mausoleum at Sultanieh not to himself (as its popular name indicates) but as the final glorious resting-place of the remains of Ali (the Prophet’s son-in-law) and Hossein, the first and third Imams revered by Iranian Shiites. Faced with the Najafis’ refusal to part with the remains of their Imams, Oljaitu found himself in rather an awkward position; but he himself was the only one to be buried there upon his death in 1316.

It is difficult to recall a mausoleum equaling the grandeur of this one anywhere else in Iran. Visible from far across the surrounding plain, the mausoleums very striking egg-shaped dome is said to be the largest Islamic version ever built.

The mausoleum is 53 meters high and 25 meters in diameter. Octagonal in shape, it is dominated by a superb dome that soars almost as impressively without the eight elegant minarets or superb portals, which no longer survive. The second-story galleries open outward, anticipating monuments such as Taj Mahal. Its impressive scale provides for an interior of great power. Here space is ample and majestic – not mere emptiness but space more intensely realized than an open landscape. The walls are made less conspicuous by the stately rhythm of eight huge and soaring arches. Mediated by shallow stalactites, the angles between these arches seem to melt quietly into the circular base of the enormous dome.

The walls were originally faced with light gold-toned brick, punctuated with small, dark blue faience tiles strung out to form large inscriptions of rectangular Kuffic, but in 1313 the interior was redecorated with plaster. Designs were varied; huge lacy medallions or painted mosaic and floral patterns, sacred inscriptions proclaimed the divine message, their undulating scripts kept alive a gentle flowing movement. The vaults of the outer 24 galleries (three on a side) were decorated with painted panels of intricate geometric ornament, exceedingly lovely in design and vibrant in color. Unfortunately, very considerable restoration work had rendered it inaccessible for several years in past.

There is a less interesting 14th century octagonal Mongol tomb tower in the village. Like the Gonbad-e Oljaitu nearby, it was spared destruction by the Timurids when they sacked the town in 1384.

Zanjan

ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS

ACCESS AND DISTANCES:

(Zanjan) 319 km to Tehran, 278 km to Tabriz, 348 km to Rasht, 374 km to Ardabil, 375 km to Orumieh, 275 km to Hamadan.

ACCIDENTS:

24644, 4020

BANK MELLI IRAN:

Cooperative No 1: 24088; Cooperative No 3 and No 15: 28126; Cooperative No 8: 34445.

CITY DIALING CODE NUMBER:

Dialing codes are as follows: Zanjan 02821, and Sultanieh 02846.

DRUG STORE (24-HOUR):

Shahrokh 27300.

EMERGENCIES:

115, 22806.

MEDICAL SERVICES:

Zanjan 115, 22806. Sultanieh 115, 2010.

POLICE:

Zanjan 24644, 28001.

RAILWAY STATION:

Zanjan 22074.

RESTAURANTS:

Chashm Andaz, Zanjan Blvd 23041, 29644.
Nemuneh, Imam Khomeini Ave 39978.
Salar, Imam Khomeini Ave 29330.
TAXI AGENT:

Rakhsh 27276.
Oghab 29790.
Shabruz 33500.
Kaleskeh 28559.
TOURIST MAP:

Available in English and Persian.

TOURIST OFFICE:

28022