Shiraz the Ancient City
Shiraz is a City in south-central Iran. The history of this ancient city goes back over 4000 years ago. Shiraz is known as the most beautiful city of the country. This city is filled with beautiful gardens, mosques and historical places. Shiraz is the capital of Fars Province and the fifth most populous city of the country. Its moderate climate makes it suitable for farming and growing different kinds of fruits. Shiraz was one of the most important trade centers in Iran for over a 1000 years.
This city was named as the capital of the country for many times, Karim Khan-e-Zand the founder of Zand dynasty chose Shiraz as his capital in 1750. By the end of Zand era in about 1800 Shiraz was no longer the capital afterwards. During Zand era so many artistic structures have been made in Iranian architecture style in Shiraz such as Arg-e Karimkhani that was a castle for the king to live with his family, Vakil mosque, Vakil Bazaar and Vakil bath.
Shiraz is the cultural and literary capital of Iran because this city was the hometown of two greatest poets of Iran, Sa’di and Hafez. The beautiful structure of the tomb of Hafez and the mosaic-tiled tomb of sa’di are two remarkable places in Shiraz and two of the most visited places in Iran.
Shiraz is famous for its flowers, especially for its Narcissus tazetta farms and its orange trees. In spring in every corner and every streets of the city blooming orange trees makes the city smell like heaven. If you are interested in trees and plants you can visit the most famous and most amazing gardens of the city like Eram Garden, Afif Abad garden and Jahangosha Garden.
As Shiraz is an ancient city it has had its own Jewish and Christian communities for thousands of years.
Shiraz is also famous for its remarkable handicrafts like inlaid mosaic work of triangular design silver-ware pile named Khatam Kari, blue colored cooper dishes art crafts named Mina-kari, Iranian carpets and some kind of carpet made by qashqa’ei tribes known as Gab’be.
Ancient city of Persepolis, ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, is located 70 km northeast of the Shiraz. Ruins of this city was found more than 100 years ago, it is one of the most important historical places in the world. The glory of this town has ended after the conquest of Alexander the Great, the history says he burnt the whole city down after arriving at the gates.
Shiraz is still colorful and amazing as it has always been. This city is a perfect example of Iranian art, literature, culture and architecture. You can enjoy visiting its beautiful gardens in the morning, having a great meal in its popular restaurants for lunch and go for a joyful shopping in Vakil bazaar for the rest of the day until the sunset. For the night you might like to go to a nice café, looking for a tasty ending for the day and finding out where to visit next day.
