Shiraz (Grand Hotel) - Iran

A big hotel is located at the northeastern entrance of the city, on the way to Marvdasht and Isfahan, between Baba Kouhi and Chehel Magham Mountains near Quran Gate.

Qeysarriyeh Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is a structure in Isfahan, Iran, also known as "Qeysarriyeh Bazaar" (in Persian: بازار قيصريه).

It was originally constructed during the 11th century, in the southeast wing of Jame Mosque and Kohne Square but various arcades and rooms were later added to it. The present remnant dates from the Safavid period, during which the Qaysariya Bazaar was built in the north wing of Naqshe Jahan Square , and was developed as a subtitute for Kohneh Square .

Ali Qapu

The Golden Age of Isfahan arrived in the 16th century under Shah Abbas the great .(1587–1629), who conquered it and made it the new capital of the Safavid dynasty. During the reign of Shah Abbas I, who unified Persia, Isfahan reached its pinnacle. Isfahan had parks, libraries and mosques that amazed Europeans.
Ali Qapu is located on the western side of the Naghshe Jahan Square opposite toSheikh Lotfolah mosque , and had been originally designed as a vast portal. It is forty-eight meters high and there are seven floors, each accessible by a difficult spiral staircase. In the sixth floor music room, deep circular niches are found in the walls, having not only aesthetic value, but also acoustic.

Masouleh Village - Iran

Masouleh architecture is unique. The buildings have been built into the mountain and are interconnected. Courtyards and roofs both serve as pedestrian areas similar to streets. Masouleh does not allow any motor vehicles to enter, due to its unique layout. It is the only village in Iran with such a prohibition. However, the small streets and many stairs simply wouldn't make it possible for vehicles to enter.

Eram Garden, Shiraz - Iran

Eram Garden (New Persian:Bagh-e Eram) is a historic Persian garden in Shiraz, Iran. Eram is the Persianized version of the Arabic word "Eram" meaning heaven in the Muslim's book of Koran. Eram Garden therefore is so called for its beauties and aesthetic attractions resembling "heaven." This garden is located on the northern shore of the Kushk river in the Fars province. Both pavilion and the garden are built during the middle of nineteenth cenutry by the Ilkhanate or a paramount chief of the Qashqai tribes of Pars.

Masuleh Village north of Iran

Masuleh is a breathtakingly beautiful village where streets are built on top of the roofs of the houses below.
Of course, it is impossible to enter Masuleh with a car. Maybe this is the reason why the original atmosphere of the villages has survived.

pigeon tower of Nahjir Village in Isfahan

An abandoned tower shows a typically honeycombed interior that could house 5000 to 7000 pigeons. To the birds, the towers offered refuge from nocturnal predators. A17th-century traveler estimated there were more than 3000 pigeon towers near Isfahan, and today some 250 to 300 survive in various states of decay.

Nahjir Village in Isfahan - Iran

Nahjir is like a living architectural and anthropological museum with beautiful landscap and beautiful castil .It is located on the south-western slope of Isfahan. It is 2000 meters above sea level and 2 kms away from Mobarake.

Nahjir Village - Isfahan .Iran

this sketch in this set are taken on 15th Mar2009 and I'm going to have another visit overthere in December which it should be quite cold over there.
So let's have look around this wonderful village with beautiful ancient Valey , road and castil.

Ferdosi

Hakim Abol Ghasem Ferdosi Tosi , more commonly translisterated as Ferdowsi or Firdusi is a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh , the national epic of Iran and related societies.Ferdowsi, is best known for his literary epic, Shahnameh to which he devoted most of his life. Shahnameh was originally drafted by Ferdowsi for the Princes of Samanids, who were responsible for revival of the Persian cultural traditions after the Arab invasion.

Ferdowsi would live to see the Samanids, conquered by the Ghaznavid Turks। The new ruler Mahmud of Ghaznavi would lack the same interest in Ferdosi 's work as that shown by the Samanids, resulting in him losing favor with the royal court. Ferdosi would die in 1020 C.E. in "poverty and embittered by royal neglect" though confident that the masterpiece that he had created would last the test of time.Written at the end of the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh century C.E., Shahnameh would mainly concern pre-Islamic Iran, through its fictional protagonist, Rostam a Persian hero and legend who is a greater-than-life figure (akin to Hercules) living for more than five hundred years, undergoing seven trials of strength, Batteling foes of man, beast, and dragon, and serving more than five Persian monarchies. Ferdosi 's Rostam is an epitome of bravery, heroism, and loyalty to the Persian throne.

Rostam however is more than just a legend and a hero, in that he is constantly on the edge, and always resolute to assert that he is "his own man" able to define his own destiny and make his own choices, regardless of needs of others even those of the kings he so faithfully serves.Ferdosi lived at a critical historical period and so his book not only reflects the uncertainties and challenges of the era but his own resilience and determination in creation of a stable Persian literary identity that was unique and different from its Arab counterpart. Ferdosi in fact was a "dehqan" or a member of the indigenous landed aristocracy who had in a severely attenuated way survived the Arab conquest and now had to adapt to the new world order. Shahnameh in many ways reflects this ongoing challenge.