Isfahan

Isfahan is a city in central Iran, on the Zayanderud river at the edge of the Zagros Mountains. A Persian saying of the 16th century calls it nesf-e jahan, half of the world, for the beauty of its mosques, palaces and bridges.

Isfahan was a city of the Seljuk dynasty in the 11th and 12th centuries, and its Jameh Mosque was rebuilt in many periods and shows the domes and vaulted halls of those centuries. Shah Abbas I made Isfahan the capital of the Safavid empire in 1598 and laid out a new city with a great square, avenues and gardens. He brought Armenian merchants to the district of New Julfa across the river, where they built the Vank Cathedral with its painted walls and dome. The square, with the buildings around it, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

Gaz, a nougat of pistachios and rosewater, is made in the city and sold across Iran. Carpets woven in Isfahan have fine knots of wool and silk and patterns of flowers and vines. Minakari, enamel painted on copper, and qalamkar, cotton cloth printed by hand with wooden blocks, are made in the bazaar.

Naqsh-e Jahan Square is surrounded by arcades of shops, with a great mosque covered in blue tiles on its south side. Si-o-se-pol, a bridge of the early 17th century, crosses the Zayanderud on a long row of arches, where people gather in the evenings to talk and sing. The Khaju Bridge, built under Shah Abbas II, has a pavilion in its middle and steps that also serve as a weir.