Out and about in Esfahan

 

March 28

I can’t vouch for the order that things happened as I failed at writing our itinerary down or even journaling each day. However, I think this day began with a visit to the Jameh Mosque of Esfahan built in the 13^th century and still largely intact.

Model of the Jameh Mosque and divinity school. All the little bumps are domes!

Much of this mosque has been reconstructed so the beautiful tile work is missing

These sconces were on many of the columns and so intricate.

The dome

Here is more of the tiles. Most of this has writing on it, but it still looks so decorative. In the corner is Ali, our guide.

Symmetry is very important in Persian architecture.

Intricately carved wooden steps and throne/chair all covered with dust.

In the middle where all the people are is a large pool with a dais in the middle of it.

This mosque was plain in comparison to most that we saw, but the bricks were in unique patterns in all the domes between the columns. That’s an opening in the center.

Next was a stop at the Shaking Tower Mosque.

Quaking/Shaking Towers

Then we had a very special visit to the Esfahan Music Museum. It had only been open for a few months. A fascinating look at ancient instruments as well as a wee, private concert! It was truly a highlight!

Gabe holding a big, brass chime after it was rung.

Tar

Old fashioned tuning knobs

Kamancheh

Santur

Notice the enormously long horn instrument in the case behind our guide.

Tar or Setar

Kamancheh

Precursor to the bagpipes made out of a sheep, goat, or camel bladder.

Bells

Our guide and owner of the museum playing a tar

From L to R: drum, kamancheh, tar, tar, santur

Megan and Eugene Lee

Lunch was at an old bathhouse that had been turned into a restaurant. The food and service were great, and it was fun to see the remains of the bathhouse underneath.

YUM! chicken, fish, stuffed peppers

Bathhouse restaurant

We went and visited St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which was built 400 years ago and has also become a museum and shrine to the victims of the Armenian genocide.

This church was entirely covered inside by paintings. This was one wall.

This one depicts heaven, earth, and hell

This is the church from the outside.

The adjoining museum had hand-written Bibles

intricately carved crosses, and memorials to the Armenian genocide

I mustn’t forget the quaint, eclectic shisha bar we visited. Ironically, you had to walk through the smoking section to get to the non-smoking section where we waited for a table in the smoking section. Haha! There we had tea, some syrupy sweet pastry, and shared some shisha.

Walls and ceilings completely covered in stuff.

We’re waiting in the non-smoking section but can see through to the smoking section

Shisha and sweets at the table

Heading back to Naqsh-e-Jahan Square we had dinner in another sit-on-the-same-level-as-your-food place to try sheep’s lung biryani.

The small brown pile is sheep’s lung. We had to try it as it is considered a delicacy.

Adventures of the cultural palate! It was a unique texture. We went back to the hotel and a few went back out to the bazaar for more shopping. Whew! So much packed into one day!

Pasargadae

March 27

Headed toward Esfahan in the morning with a stop to see Cyrus the Great’s tomb, and the ruins of Pasargadae. This is also known as the Mausoleum of the Martyred Mother of Solomon.

Sad horses and sales booths at the entrance to Cyrus the Great’s tomb.

There are more ruins here, but since it was Nowruz the throngs meant we would have to depend on a bus to shuttle us out to them and back and we still had hours to drive to get to Esfahan. So we departed Pasargadae and arrived in Esfahan in time enough to visit 2 bridges and a tomb before we had dinner.

Bridge #1

Throngs walking across the bridge

It was windy and busy

Megan and me in one of the bridge archways

Along the river beside bridge #1

Bridge #2 at dusk in Esfahan

People gathered to picnic, talk and sing in the archways of bridge #2.

Tomb

Persepolis and Necropolis

March 26

Off to Persepolis (Persian City): These are ruins that date back to as early as 515 BCE. It was the seat of power for the Persian Empire until 330 BCE when Alexander the Great invaded and destroyed it.

Model of Persepolis shows how it was elevated above the natural slope of the land. It was a big city!

It is amazing to catch a glimpse through these ruins of what life might have been like there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L4E9m27aKY&nohtml5=False It is a massive complex and full of architectural marvels as well as bas-relief on the walls.

Low rise steps up to the city. It was easy to imagine a regal procession slowly processing up the stairs.

Remains of bulls on either side of the doorway. These columns and structures are massive.

The attention to detail is still evident now 2500 years later.

These two are sphinx: part lion (brave), part bull (strong), part eagle (all-seeing), part human (smart).

These were the capitals on the columns to support the huge beams. Just one room had 100 columns!

These knobs are all that is left of the 100 columns in this room.

The cover is modern metal, but the shaft leads to the sewers. Great forethought was given to the construction of this city.

The majority of the walls were covered with bas relief. This lion attacking a bull was featured many, many times.

Females are rarely depicted, but the figure at the lynchpin of all the wheels is a woman. It seems to acknowledge the pivotal role that women play in society.

The dark places on this bas relief are polished from people touching it. While it looks like row upon row above one another, this was how they showed many parallel rows of soldiers on the ground.

This is for scale to see how much the city was elevated and how tall the columns are.

Most of the columns were probably about 18 meters high and there were hundreds and hundreds of them.

Yet another family wishing to have a photo with Americans just outside the WC at the entrance to Persepolis. Many people were camping here and the bathroom was jammed with people washing dishes and bathing. I decided I could hold it. haha

Some interesting side notes: Shiraz wine is named after the city here, but they didn’t claim it in the same way that Champagne or Stilton did. Also the Adidas stripes and lotus emblem were totally taken from Persepolis. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nipitiri/4392456454

After hours of wandering these ruins, we boarded the bus again to head for the Necropolis (Dead City). This is a large cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments.

Bas relief on a tomb. Each tomb (there were 5) were cut out of the rock in the shape of a cross and elaborately carved to resemble a palace on the outside. Though you can see it is open, it was sealed after the body was interred.

This one was lower, but you can see the scale from the arm in the picture.

It is believed that Darius I and II, Xerxes and Artaxerxes were buried here. These are kings from Old Testament times.

This is perhaps Xerxes tomb and is facing the tombs carved into the mountain.

Through the gate you can see the stairs up to the burial vault.

Another picture for scale.

A visit to the bazaar in Shiraz was mandatory once we got back.

This waterfall was along the road as we returned to Shiraz.

This is a wall in Shiraz. They take their street art seriously!

It was packed to the gills with people and products, so it was difficult to move. Everything you can imagine is sold in these bazaars from spices to fabric to furniture to electronics, as well as local handicrafts.

The jammed hall between the shops on either side.

A small hub still lined with shops, but hallways spoke off from here in several directions all lined with shops.

Sweets

Pastes made from various fruits and vegetables.

Fabric! This is what they’re like in Kuwait as well, but tinier space.

Carpets

Exquisite enamelled copper

After this we went back to the hotel and then out for dinner. It was a sit-on-the-same-level-as-your-food place and they had live music.

Each group of people has their own square “tablecloth” and sit around it with cushions. This is Glenn, me, Cathy, and Shahid.

All hands in to rice with fish, rice with lamb and a labor intensive dish of veggies, meat, broth, and bread. Yummy!

This group used sign language (and body language) to music.

This included traditional instruments and songs as well as a performance by a group who signed to the music in fancy traditional dress. What an experience!

Shiraz!

March 25

We landed in Shiraz at about 7:30 am,

Sunrise as we disembark in Shiraz

Iran Air (even though we were actually on a FlyDubai flight)

and wound our way around security and found our guide Ali. He was so warm and welcoming! We loaded our luggage on the minibus and headed off to see some sights. The first stop was the Holy Shrine of Ahmad Ebn-e Mousa Al Kazem which commemorates some of the most important imams of Shia Muslims.

As we were leaving the airport

Tile work and intricate architecture often seen at the mosque doorways.

This entire room was tiled in mirrors!

The mosque from the courtyard and obligatory fountain.

Then we went to the Nasir al Molk Mosque where the light through the stained glass was amazing.

Mosque from the courtyard

Wooden blocks between the stone which provide some “flexibility” for earthquakes, etc.

Another intricate doorway.

The winter side of the Nasir al Molk mosque

Patterns upon patterns

One of numerous windows

I believe we then visited Naranjestan gardens. They are owned and tended by Shiraz University.

naranj is what they call these sour oranges. They are everywhere. They were also everywhere in Morocco.

The gardens and house at Naranjastan

After visiting a fort called The Citadel

Tower at the citadel

Gardens at the citadel

we stopped for a favorite Iranian treat called falooda. It is made with frozen rice noodles, rose water and lime. We had ours with ice cream. I liked the ice cream with the lime, but could do without the falooda (it’s a texture thing). Then we went and visited the tomb of Hafez, a Muslim Sufi mystic poet especially revered by the Iranian people.

Some of our group with Persians who requested a photo with us at the tomb of Hafez gardens.

The tomb of Hafez

The dome over the tomb of Hafez

Another Persian & American photo op in the gardens at the tomb

This man wanted a picture with us, but didn’t want us to be too close.

Because it is Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and schools and business close for all or part of the 13 days it is celebrated there were crowds and crowds of people, mostly families everywhere we went. The last day is nature day and everyone goes and spends the day outdoors. This was the only day we had rain, but families were out in their tents and shelters anyway. This is an ancient springtime celebration with no real current religious ties as it dates back to before any of the current monotheistic religions began. It is Zoroastrian in origin and is still a holy day for them. According to Ali, there was an effort to reduce this celebration in favor of more time during a religious holiday (Eid al Fitr), but public outcry kept it in tact. Families use this holiday time to camp and visit their national historic sites.

We stopped at a carpet shop where they served us tea and we negotiated our purchases. It was beautiful to see and learn about the different styles, symbols, and sizes of the carpets. (Yes, I bought one.)

This is my Persian rug. It’s about 1 meter by 2. The 3 diamonds represent tents surrounded by animals and plants for the community and each corner is guarded by soldiers.

Young people in particular, often encouraged by older family members would approach and ask where we were from. The obvious pleasure and warm welcome that infused their faces when we said we were Americans was certainly the antithesis of what I had expected. To a one, they engaged us in conversation in sometimes very broken English, wished us to feel welcome and wanted pictures taken with us. I have never felt more welcome anywhere else I have visited.

Spring Break

March 24

After teaching a full day, I came home and put the finishing touches on packing. I always hope I’ve thought of everything, but especially this time. I knew I had to be “covered” whenever I was in a public area. That meant to the wrist (although they did accept 3/4 length sleeves), to the ankle (pants or skirt) and head. At 8:00 Abdul came and picked Megan, Eugene, and me up to go to the airport for our flight to Dubai. It was scheduled to leave at 11:35 pm. Check in was a breeze (there were no lines!!) and we sat and waited. Then we noticed that the last flight (at 12:10, or something), which Shahid and Cathy were supposed to be on, was cancelled. We called them and they raced to the airport and made it through security just as we were boarding! Whew! Since Dubai is an hour ahead of us, we landed at 1:00 something. Our flight for Shiraz, Iran was due to leave at 5:10 am. We grabbed a bite to eat and saw Gabe and Glenn, who had spent the night in Dubai.

Ahhhhh, I am being told I’ve reached my plan storage limit so I am going to have to figure out what to do. That’s all until I do.