Shazdeh Garden - Iran

    A few months ago I posted a card from Iran and mentioned that a 2nd one got lost. Well, it didn't get lost, it only took a scenic route to get here. I was more than happy to find it in my mailbox and add a new UNESCO site to my collection. Shazdeh Garden (aka Shahzadeh Garden) is one of the 9 registered Persian Gardens on the UNESCO World Heritage list. 

The card was sent by Ehsan.

 

    The name Shazdeh Garden literally means ‘The Prince’s Garden’. This garden is located in the outskirts of Mahan city and was built during the Qajar dynasty (1794 – 1925) by the order of Kerman’s governor. Shazdeh Garden is the the largest and one of the best examples of Persian Gardens in Iran. It is located in a dry and hot region, but what makes this garden stand out, is the green and lush trees and vegetation in the garden. 

    Thanks to the smart water control system, the garden enjoys a mild temperature throughout the year. The melted snow from the nearby mountains is controlled using Qanats and flows from the most upper part of the garden where the main pavilion is located, and goes all the way to the entrance of the garden and eventually to the city of Mahan. The water flow in the garden and even the original fountains completely rely on gravity to function. 

    If you take a closer look at the entrance of Shazdeh Garden, you can notice a few spots without any designs or tile works. The royal inhabitants of the garden were known to be hostile to civilians, thus when the mason of the garden found out that the prince who resided there had been killed, he happily threw the mortar away without completing his job. - in: https://www.tappersia.com

Yazd - Iran

I was so happy when I saw this card in my mailbox, not only because it is from a new UNESCO site but also because the building on the card, Amir Chakhmaq complex, is really beautiful. I was so happy that almost forgot that I was supposed to get a second card, that unfortunately got lost. Both card were sent by Ehsan. 

Yazd, an ancient city in the heart of Iran, is a place where history, culture, and architecture seamlessly blend to create a mesmerizing experience for travelers. Often referred to as the “City of Windcatchers” or the “City of Zoroastrians,” Yazd is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Situated midway between Isfahan and the historic city of Kerman, this oasis city stands surrounded by the vast deserts of Iran, creating a stark yet beautiful landscape. With a history spanning over 5,000 years, Yazd has been a center of trade, culture, and religion for millennia.
Amidst the immense desert, Yazd retains its sterling of old in religion, traditions and architecture. It is recognized by UNESCO as holding one of the oldest architecture all over the world. The word Yazd means, sacred and worship, which gives us the idea of being a sacred city in the past.

Photo by Mohsen Daschti

Although more often described as the entrance to a now non-existent bazaar, the chief function of Amir-Chakhmagh structure known as a Tekyeh, and the square before it, was to host Ta’ziyeh – a cycle of passion plays commemorating the martyrdom of the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hossein, which take place once a year during the mourning month of Moharram. The site dating from fifteenth century, is named after its builder, Amir Jalal Al-Din Chakhmagh,  governor of Yazd. - in: https://www.iransafar.co

Pasargadae - Iran

Iran has 24 unesco sites and I only have cards from 6 of them. I've got this one from Pasargadae thanks to Stefanie. 

Pasargadae was the first dynastic capital of the Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus II the Great, in Pars, homeland of the Persians, in the 6th century BC. Its palaces, gardens and the mausoleum of Cyrus are outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture and exceptional testimonies of Persian civilization. (...) Pasargadae was the capital of the first great multicultural empire in Western Asia. Spanning the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt to the Hindus River, it is considered to be the first empire that respected the cultural diversity of its different peoples. This was reflected in Achaemenid architecture, a synthetic representation of different cultures. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1106

Cyrus was the founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty (c. 550-330 BC), which became the world’s largest empire before it was eclipsed by that of Alexander the Great.

As the “father of the Iranian nation,” Cyrus II of Persia, known as Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the first world leader to be given the epithet “the Great,” due to his conquering the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian empires.

The tomb was discovered by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century B.C. when he had conquered the Persian Empire.

The tomb is believed to be the oldest base-isolated structure and also one of the first earthquake-protected structures in the world.

Although the city of Pasargadae is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact and today it is an archaeological site listed as a UNESCO heritage site to help protect such an influential part of Iranian history. - in: https://www.thevintagenews.com

Masjed-e Jāmé of Isfahan - Iran

On my last trade with Emerich, i've got cards from 4 new UNESCO sites. This one is from Iran, it shows the Oljaito Altar, inside the Masjed-e Jāmé of Isfahan.

Masjed-e Jāmé of Isfahan was classified as a UNESCO WHS in 2012. 

Photo by: M. Ebrahimi

Located in the historic centre of Isfahan, the Masjed-e Jāmé (‘Friday mosque’) can be seen as a stunning illustration of the evolution of mosque architecture over twelve centuries, starting in ad 841. It is the oldest preserved edifice of its type in Iran and a prototype for later mosque designs throughout Central Asia. The complex, covering more than 20,000 m², is also the first Islamic building that adapted the four-courtyard layout of Sassanid palaces to Islamic religious architecture. Its double-shelled ribbed domes represent an architectural innovation that inspired builders throughout the region. The site also features remarkable decorative details representative of stylistic developments over more than a thousand years of Islamic art. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1397

Bam's Citadel - Iran

Iran has 15 places on the Unesco World Heritage Site List. Bam's citadel is only my 4th and was added to the lits in 2004.

The Arg-é Bam was the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, a city in the Kermān Province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape".

 The origin of this enormous citadel on the Silk Road can be traced back to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th centuries BC) and even beyond. The heyday of the citadel was from the 7th to 11th centuries, being at the crossroads of important trade routes and known for the production of silk and cotton garments.

The entire building was a large fortress in whose heart the citadel itself was located, but because of the impressive look of the citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam Citadel.

On December 26, 2003, the Citadel was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and its environs. A few days after the earthquake, the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced that the Citadel would be rebuilt. - in: wikipedia

St Stepanos Monastery - Iran

St. Stepanos Monastery is one of the three Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, in the north-west of the country. The other two are St Thaddeus and the Chapel of Dzordzor. They are classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites and this is a new site in my collection. The card was sent by Marcel.

These edifices are examples of outstanding universal value of the Armenian architectural and decorative traditions. They bear testimony to very important interchanges with the other regional cultures, in particular the Byzantine, Orthodox and Persian. Situated on the south-eastern fringe of the main zone of the Armenian cultural space, the monasteries constituted a major centre for the dissemination of that culture in the region. They are the last regional remains of this culture that are still in a satisfactory state of integrity and authenticity. Furthermore, as places of pilgrimage, the monastic ensembles are living witnesses of Armenian religious traditions through the centuries. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1262

Photo by Maghsoud Same Sardroudi

The St. Stepanos Monastery is an Armenian monastery about 15 km northwest of Jolfa city, East Azarbaijan Province northeast Iran. It is situated in a deep canyon along the Arax river on the Iranian side of the border between Azerbaijan and Iran. It was built in the 9th century and rebuilt in the Safavid era after several earthquakes damaged it.- in: wikipedia

Persepolis - Iran

I didn't post any Unesco card in the last days but i've received a few from new sites. This one is from Persepolis, my 2nd site from Iran. Perspolis is a World Heritage Site since 1979.

Now an archaeological site in Iran, the ancient city of Persepolis (Persian: Takht-e Jamshid or Takht-i Jamshid, "Throne of Jamshid") was founded by Darius I in 518 BC as the capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
On an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, the great king created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. Though evidence of prehistoric settlement at Persepolis has been discovered, inscriptions indicate that construction of the city began under Darius I the Great (reigned 522–486 BC). As a member of a new branch of the royal house, Darius made Persepolis the new capital of Persia (replacing Pasargadae, the burial place of Cyrus the Great).
Built in a remote and mountainous region, Persepolis was an inconvenient royal residence, visited mainly in the spring. The effective administration of the Achaemenian Empire was carried on from Susa, Babylon, or Ecbatana. This accounts for the Greeks being unacquainted with Persepolis until Alexander the Great's invasion of Asia.
In 330 BC, Alexander the Great plundered the city and burned the palace of Xerxes, probably to symbolize the end of his Panhellenic war of revenge. In 316 BC Persepolis was still the capital of Persis as a province of the Macedonian empire, but the city gradually declined in the Seleucid period and after. In the 3rd century AD the nearby city of Istakhr became the centre of the Sasanian empire. Today, relatively well-preserved ruins attest to Persepolis' ancient glory. - in: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/iran/persepolis.htm

Isfahan - Iran

"Khaju Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in Isfahan. It was built around 1650. It has 23 arches and is 105 metres long and 14 metres wide. It links the Khaju quarter on the north bank with the Zoroastrian quarter across the Zayandeh River. It also functions as a weir; the downstream side is formed as a series of steps carrying the water to a much lower level." - in wikipedia. Card sent by "ipuenktchen".

"Shah Mosque is a mosque in Isfahan standing in south side of Naghsh-i Jahan Square. It has been renamed to Imam Mosque after Islamic Revolution.
Built during the Safavids period, it is an excellent example of Islamic architecture of Iran, and regarded as the masterpiece of Persian Architecture. The Imam Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran and all over the world. It is registered along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611, and its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-color mosaic tiles and calligraphic inscriptions." - in wikipedia.

Card sent by "morgaine".