Yazd's famous Badgirs, translated as the very romantic-sounding "windcatchers".
T plus 70 - Yazd
Right, so this place is a bit out of the way - it forms a triangular route with Esfahan (to the north), Shiraz (to the south) and Yazd (to the east). Most people would just take the bus from Esfahan to Shiraz (7 hours), instead of going to Yazd (5 hours) and then onward to Shiraz (6ish hours). However, if you have a couple of days to spare, it's a nice place to break the journey and catch one's breath after having it taken away by the blockbuster sights in Esfahan and Shiraz.
The old town of Yazd has managed to retain its old-world charm despite the waves of development sweeping through Iran. It is almost completely devoid of modern structures, and walking through its maze of alleys does transport one back to a different time. The real highlight of Yazd, for me, is the ubiquitous presence of windcatchers, sprouting from rooftops all over the city. And as far as I can tell, no other Iranian city has them in the same numbers; so it's really rather unique to Yazd's architectural heritage.
I love old-world technology. And this is something that really works - even today. How does it work? Well, I presume somebody came up with the bright idea of air conditioning after getting tired of sitting in a puddle of sweat in the sauna which mud-brick houses tend to become after baking in the desert sun. They built a "reverse chimney" which captured any passing breezes and redirected the moving air downwards into their houses. Later, more sophisticated variations catered for bi-directional wind capture, then 4-way, then the Rolls-Royce of Badgirs - the 8-way windcatcher with a pool of water underneath to add evaporative cooling to the equation. And if one stands below one of these ancient air-cons, you can really feel a draft of air flowing downwards and into the room.
Like I said - cool desert dwellings!
Yazd is also the spiritual home of Zoroastrianism in Iran. Zorro who? Well, it's actually one of the very first religions which preached the existence of a single omnipotent god. Zoroaster was a prophet who was most likely born around 1000 BC in ancient Persia, and his teachings precede those of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some say that Zoroastrianism formed the early basis of monotheism which is the common factor between these three religions which went on to change the world. Some 150,000 Zoroastrians are believed to still exist in the world with most residing in India. Iran is home to about 20,000 and they pay pilgrimage to the fire temple in Yazd which houses a flame said to be burning continuously since 470AD. Interestingly, the kings of ancient Persia - Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and their descendants were also followers of Zoroastrianism.
Side note: Zoroastrians believe that they communicate with their god, Ahura Mazda by praying into the light i.e. fire. And this is why fire temples were created. Incidentally "Ahura" means light and "Mazda" means wisdom. Sounds more and more familiar eh? Well, that's because we've seen bits of it in Game of Thrones! George R.R. Martin has acknowledged that his fictitious "Lord of Light" religion is loosely based on Zoroastrianism. And that's not all! Zoroastrianism is also the main inspiration for the car company Mazda's name and logo. Look carefully at the Zoroastrianism symbol on the top of the fire temple in the pic below. The Mazda (car) logo is a simplified version of that!
Here are some photos from my walkabouts:
Right, so this place is a bit out of the way - it forms a triangular route with Esfahan (to the north), Shiraz (to the south) and Yazd (to the east). Most people would just take the bus from Esfahan to Shiraz (7 hours), instead of going to Yazd (5 hours) and then onward to Shiraz (6ish hours). However, if you have a couple of days to spare, it's a nice place to break the journey and catch one's breath after having it taken away by the blockbuster sights in Esfahan and Shiraz.
The old town of Yazd has managed to retain its old-world charm despite the waves of development sweeping through Iran. It is almost completely devoid of modern structures, and walking through its maze of alleys does transport one back to a different time. The real highlight of Yazd, for me, is the ubiquitous presence of windcatchers, sprouting from rooftops all over the city. And as far as I can tell, no other Iranian city has them in the same numbers; so it's really rather unique to Yazd's architectural heritage.
I love old-world technology. And this is something that really works - even today. How does it work? Well, I presume somebody came up with the bright idea of air conditioning after getting tired of sitting in a puddle of sweat in the sauna which mud-brick houses tend to become after baking in the desert sun. They built a "reverse chimney" which captured any passing breezes and redirected the moving air downwards into their houses. Later, more sophisticated variations catered for bi-directional wind capture, then 4-way, then the Rolls-Royce of Badgirs - the 8-way windcatcher with a pool of water underneath to add evaporative cooling to the equation. And if one stands below one of these ancient air-cons, you can really feel a draft of air flowing downwards and into the room.
Like I said - cool desert dwellings!
Yazd is also the spiritual home of Zoroastrianism in Iran. Zorro who? Well, it's actually one of the very first religions which preached the existence of a single omnipotent god. Zoroaster was a prophet who was most likely born around 1000 BC in ancient Persia, and his teachings precede those of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some say that Zoroastrianism formed the early basis of monotheism which is the common factor between these three religions which went on to change the world. Some 150,000 Zoroastrians are believed to still exist in the world with most residing in India. Iran is home to about 20,000 and they pay pilgrimage to the fire temple in Yazd which houses a flame said to be burning continuously since 470AD. Interestingly, the kings of ancient Persia - Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and their descendants were also followers of Zoroastrianism.
Side note: Zoroastrians believe that they communicate with their god, Ahura Mazda by praying into the light i.e. fire. And this is why fire temples were created. Incidentally "Ahura" means light and "Mazda" means wisdom. Sounds more and more familiar eh? Well, that's because we've seen bits of it in Game of Thrones! George R.R. Martin has acknowledged that his fictitious "Lord of Light" religion is loosely based on Zoroastrianism. And that's not all! Zoroastrianism is also the main inspiration for the car company Mazda's name and logo. Look carefully at the Zoroastrianism symbol on the top of the fire temple in the pic below. The Mazda (car) logo is a simplified version of that!
Here are some photos from my walkabouts:
The badgir of Bagh-e Dolat Abad. At 33m it is the tallest in Iran, and therefore the world. The second and third pics show how the 8-directional wind catcher works. Each of the octagon's "wedges" is a sealed vertical chamber that connects directly to one of the eight sides of the wind catcher on top. The pool below it cools the air further.
The Zoroastrian fire temple, or Ateshkadeh, and the eternal flame of fame which has supposedly been burning since 470 AD. If you're wondering why the temple doesn't look 1,500 years old, you'd be right - it isn't. The flame has been moved from place to place, all over Iran for centuries to avoid being obliterated by the Islamic Arabs who invaded Persia. The current site was only built in 1940.