Places to See in Iran, Destroy Your Prejudices

When Iran is mentioned, the flowing water stops for me. Others, when Iran is mentioned, turns into a demon.. It’s me who goes and lives, they’re the ones who have an opinion before they go. Iran is a country ruled by sharia.. The Islamic Republic of Iran has ruled Iran since 1979.. Like other countries, you can’t say that I should wear my shorts and shirt and go to the sea, but not as much as it seems from the outside.. Every country has its own dynamic.

First of all, I recommend you to take a look at my articles about Iranian life, things to know before going to Iran and being a woman in Iran.. In this article you will find places to see in Iran. In general, I will add what I wrote to the posts I made on Instagram while I was in Iran.. My current feelings were very good.. Let’s see, what did I expect then? Let’s start the article I found a lot of things.

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How to Get to Iran?

As soon as we two women get things done in Van in the morning, we take a minibus to the bus station.. From there, we pass through the Kapikoy Border Gate with two hitchhikes.. The border crossing is the most makeshift border crossing I have ever passed.. (not so now. It was in 2018) System slow. On the way out, we find the name given by my friend Özkan, change our money and take a taxi.

Paying 150 thousand Tyumen, we visit the tomb of Şeb-i Tabrizi in the city of Khoy we do. We keep seeing beautiful mosques. we take pictures. We drink the chauffeur’s tea, it’s not enough, we get a new one. We’re getting hungry, we’re eating the man’s food. We are coming 210 km.. We give 60 TL to all of them in Turkish lira (2018). If we had waited, there were other passengers in the car, it would have been split per person. It would be even cheaper but we don’t need it. this place is so cheap. Finally we found a cheap country. I’ve never been used to giving one and taking three. Iran is not the Iran you know. I started my Iran posts as I will break these prejudices. I think it’s a good start.

1. Şemsi Tabrizi Tomb, Hkoy

If you have already crossed to Iran by land, you should stop at Khoy (Hoy) City on your way and make sure to Şemsi Tabrizi Tomb You should visit. If you are going through the gate in Hakkari, it will not be on your way.. The place we had to see in Khoy City was Shamsi Tabrizi’s Tomb. Now you will rightly say that the Tomb of Shams is in Turkey.. Iranian authorities made the following statement on this subject:. However, West Azerbaijan Cultural Heritage Preservation Authority is of the opinion that Shamsi Tabrizi was buried near the Shams minaret in Khoy city, based on historical information and documents.. That’s why work has begun to build a tomb there.

This is the place we visited.. I’ve seen the one in Turkey. Iranian authorities wanted Turkey to be declared spiritual brother with Konya. In an open area like a park, there is the tomb of Şems in the middle.. Behind it is a minaret covered with horns. Shams minaret in Khoy is a historical building from the Shah Ismail Safavid era.

2. Urmia, Orumiyeh, Urmia

Urmia, Orumiyeh, Urmia whatever you say, they are all the same city. Urmiye is known as West Azerbaijan. For this reason, Turkish is very popular.. Turkish-speaking too. You will hardly see the name of Urmia in the list of Places to see in Iran. After all, we are not going to Urmia to visit, but to take care of our business such as getting a line and changing money.. Hadi we know there will help us. The reason why we went to Urmia, Iran, and on the way back was always to get things done and to go shopping.. Instead of carrying things we could find everywhere, we got them from there last.. Our Border Gate in Urmia Hakkari is 30 minutes away from Esendere to Urmia.

Urmiye Historical Grand Bazaar

There is a covered bazaar in every city in Iran. They use this place to shop.. Generally, there are things like clothing, textiles.. These are inside the Urmiye Historical Grand Bazaar. A market is established outside. Urmiye Grand Bazaar is 120 years old.

Tanokora Bazaar, Urmia

Today, we left our couch house (free accommodation) in Urmia.. We had a plan to stop by Tanakora bazaar and move on to Tabriz.. Our hosts came with us because we were ripped off while buying dates the previous evening.. We are so welcomed that words are not enough to describe.. We entered the bazaar once, that entrance. We just went out in the evening. A Japanese drama aired in Iran 30 years ago. When this bazaar was opened, when the first Japanese clothes were sold, they started to call it Tanakora.

“This place is actually a second hand bazaar, but the products of famous brands that are not sold or are the only ones in the world are sent here.. We could only visit two streets for 6 hours.. There is such a wide variety of products.. There is no such cheap. We bought shorts for 4 liras, windbreakers and coats for 15 liras.. We bought outdoor famous brands for three cents. I only paid 180 TL for a North Face backpack, fanny pack and a match. Merrel boat 92 liras only. Do you think it didn’t? I mean, today Tabriz has been a lie.. God bless tomorrow. We had come to Urmia to meet Hadi, for the telephone line, money matters, etc.. Actually, we weren’t even going to stay, but we couldn’t get out of here for two days.. The road is like that. Today, when we lost ourselves in the bazaar, we forgot to take a photo,” I said on my second day in Iran.. I think I explained the heat very well. There is no need to say anything more.

Places to Visit in Urmia

If your time is not limited and you are going to do shopping, I would say go to Urmia.. It would be unfair if I say that there is only shopping in Urmia.. Of course, there are many historical artifacts there as well.. To list a few things;

• Urmia Lake
• Mar Church Mar Giz, church and cathedral
• Shahar Chay, water views
• Segonbad, historical ruins
• Church Of Mother Mary, church and cathedral
• Church of Mary
• Urmia Grand Mosque, mosque
• Tergever, a place where you can go and play with the snow in winter

As you can see, there are more churches than mosques in Urmia. Isn’t it interesting? we did not visit them. We had bigger plans in Iran. With my love to Hadi and his family who hosted us in his house…

3. Places to See in Tabriz

Transportation between Tabriz and Urmia is done by taxis. Not by bus. close already. If we had 3 people in the back seat, we would have paid 8 lira per person.. We said let’s go comfortably, we pay the 3rd person. We give 12 TL. Come and experience this comfort. Why is the front seat a little more expensive?. We don’t need hitchhiking either.

When we say

Iranian places to see, everyone says there is nothing there for Tabriz.. I think there is a lot. If Tabriz is not included in your Iran trip, something will be missing.. If we look at the history of Tabriz, Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, Safavids, Afshar, Tabriz Khanate, Pahlavi Dynasty, Azerbaijan National Government, Pahlavi Dynasty and most recently Islamic Republic of Iran ruled Tabriz. Tabriz to the north is Eynali Mountain, to the south is Sehend Mountain. The river formed by the combination of Mehran Stream and Aci Çay gives life to Tabriz. You can read more in my article on Tabriz Places to See.. Best regards to bahman who hosted us at his house…Places to See in Tabriz briefly as follows:

• Azerbaijan Museum
• Göy Masjid, Gök Mescid or Blue Mosque , Select Like Buy
• Friday Mosque
• Tabriz Grand Bazaar
• Poets’ Mausoleum (Makberetus-Şuera)
• Kandovan
• Arg-e Tabriz ie Tabriz Ark Castle
• Kaçar Museum- Emir Nizam House
• Behnam House
• Tabriz Constitutional Monarchy House
• Clock Tower
• Saint Stephanos Monastery
• Shah Lake (El Lake)
• Eynali Mountain
• Kandovan

Click here for more detailed information about places to see in Tabriz.

4. Tehran Places to See

Tehran is the capital and most populous city of Iran. When I said places to see in Iran, many people said, “Never mind Tehran”.. It’s really crowded.. It has crazy traffic that does not look for bumper cars.. Become a victim of Istanbul traffic. But it is so, but it was not to go without being seen.. Tehran, the modern face of Iran. There is a literature called Tehran girls.

Tehran house parties are famous. Of course, these are illegal parties.. Shahriar, whose house we stayed at in Tehran, came out of such a party and did not touch the ground for two days.. Despite this, he drove us to many places we wanted to see in Tehran.. Tehran traffic was the thing we saw most in Tehran when we drove around.. sleep wake up but you are still in the same place for example. Especially, we have a story of three tours around the Azadi Monument, which is unforgettable.. He couldn’t find a place to park so he gave us three laps around and we hopp back home. For example, he did not persistently take us to Khomeini’s grave.. I don’t know what kind of hate this was. Warm regards to our host Shahriyar… The list of Tehran sights is as follows:

• Gülistan Palace
• Sadabad Palace
• Historical Tehran Grand Bazaar
• Niavaran Palace
• National Jewelry Museum
• Azadi Monument
• Khomeini Mausoleum (they will do their best not to go)
• Tabiat Bridge, Tabiat Bridge
• Darakeh- Darband

For more detailed information about places to visit in Tehran click here click.

5. Kashan Places to See

Kashan is at the top of my list of places to see in Iran. The Iranian friend who hosted us has a great share in this.. When we got off the bus, he picked us up with his car and showed us every inch of the place, cooked us Iranian dishes, managed to take us to the desert, and took us to the Abbayaneh Village, miles away… Countless.

As you can see when you look at the schedules of the tours to Iran, half a day is reserved.. Seen as a pass-through place. Two days weren’t enough for us.. You can spend the time you steal from Tehran and its traffic in Kashan.. You will thank me for this. Kashan with my love to our host Ebrahim… Our list of places to visit in Kashan is as follows;

• Tabatabaei House
• Burujerdi House
• Sultan Amir Ahmad Bath
• Bozorg Agha Mosque and Madrasa
• Maranjab Desert and a must-have sunrise
• Abbayaneh Village
• Historic Kashan Bazaar
• Kashan city view

Click here for more detailed information about Kashan sights.

6. Places to See in Yazd

“What a lot of screams can’t erase,
There is no train window at all.
You are nothing to me,” says Ahmet Kaya and how well he says it.. Actually, we were supposed to go from Kashan to Esfehan, but I took the train to my love and crossed between Kashan Yazd by train.. Because Esfehan’s hours did not fit well and the road only took 2 hours.. We were waiting for a black train, but a very comfortable high-speed train came.. We got it.

We were taking all public transport in Iran respectively and the train is something I can definitely recommend.. Definitely need to spare a few days for Yazd. Wherever we said one night in Iran, we always had to stay for two nights.. Every place we went was very special and beautiful. In Yazd, two nights were inevitable, as most of the sights were outside the city.. Thanks to Ali Mehrara, owner of Qaskai Hostel, for accompanying us outside of the city, apart from the wonderful hospitality… If I had to divide our Places to see list into two;

Places to see in Yazd:

• Amir Cakmak Mosque
• Yazd Jameh Mosque
• Dowlat Abad Garden, Wind Towers
• Dahme, Silence Towers
• Fahadan
• Zoroastrian Temple,  Zoroastrian Fire Temple
• Yazd Water Museum
• Yazd Desert Tour, Bafgh Desert

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• Alexander’s Prison, Alexander’s Prison

Places to visit by renting a car near Yazd;

• Chak Chack, Shrif-Abad Zoroastrian Association
• Meybod
• Meybod Icehouse, Meybod Ice House
• Karanaq Village, Khanaragh

Click here for more detailed information about Yazd attractions.

7. Places to See in Isfahan

Naqsh-i Jahan Square, which was also included in the UNESCO world heritage list, is known as the “Square of the World’s Picture” or “Shah’s Square”, while in Iran it is mostly called Imam Square. The square is home to the Safavid Ali Kapı Mosque, Sheikh Lütfullah Mosque, the seven-floor Ali Gapu Palace and a bazaar where you can lose yourself in beauty.. It’s not expensive either. Esfehan has a special place in our hearts with its huge pools in the middle, its vast greenery, and cotton and cotton clouds overhead.. Many things I wanted to do in Isfahan, where we had to walk very quickly after coming across Karbala, were left for another time, but we still did a good job in such a short time.. My love to our host, Farjid, who does not speak a word of Turkish or English, and who hosted us wonderfully despite his limited opportunities… Briefly, the Isfahan sights list is as follows;