Yazd

At the foot of the Dasht-e Kavir Desert lays the city of Yazd, famous for its extremely hot summers, its many wind towers and its old town made completely out of mud/adobe.
It is still today one of the major centres for the Zoroastrian religion, the ancient Persian religion which was replaced by the Islam after the Arabs invaded Persia in 650 AD.
Because Yazd was far away from the major Persian cities and quite difficult to reach, the Mongols (who invaded Persia 600 years after the Arabs) spared the 4000 years old downtown.

We organized a trip to Kharanaq village, which is today deserted and only serves as a tourist attraction. Not far away from here, we visited Chak Chak, a Zoroastrian pilgrimage site. Each year, many thousands of Zoroastrians from all over the world (mostly India) come to worship the eternal fire at the Pir-e Sabz Temple. Chak Chak stands for 'drop-drop' and is related to its founding tale. Apparently the Persian princess Nikbanou fled from the Arab Invaders to the mountain, where she prayed to Ahura Mazda (God of Wisdom, the only god of the Zoroastrians) for rescue. Hearing her prayers, Ahura Mazda opened up the mountain to give her protection. After a while a small spring started to drip out of the stone. This spring symbolizes the mountain's tears of grief and is worshipped as such until today.

Northwest of Yazd is also situated the historical city of Meybod which holds Narin Castle, one of the oldest sand castles of Iran. It is built on structures that are believed to be over 7000 years old.


Recently the water museum of Yazd opened its doors, where we could visit the ancient underground water transportation systems called 'Qanats'.

From the outside, you wouldn't notice that there is a big court yard in the middle of most of the houses.

Enjoying a cup of coffee on a terrace. At the back is a wind catcher, the Iranian natural air-condition.

The view over the mud buildings in Yazd.

The traditional way of eating an Iranian dish in the court of a local restaurant.

During our stay in the Adobe Traditional Guesthouse, we met two Iranian couples who communicated with us even though they couldn't speak a word of English.

Like a painting in a Modern Art Museum.

In most of the towns, the artificially built water channel was the only resource of water.

The deserted village of Kharanaq.

All the houses were connected together through interlinked ways and alleys.

The pigeon house in Meybod.

The excrements of the pigeons were used to fertilize the fields.