Places of Interest - Iran

"teheran"

introduction

Tehran is the capital, but also by far the largest, wildest, roughest, polluted and busiest city in the country. Everything comes together and everything begins in Teheran. The population is predominantly young and highly educated, although quite a few (highly educated) young people leave the city because of the very bad economic conditions and settle elsewhere in the world. Other reasons are the size of Teheran, the bad traffic situation, and the strong outdated fleet of public transport and its unfavorable location, the city is struggling with huge air pollution. Tehran is in this respect among the five most polluted cities in the world and it does often happen that schools close because of smoke alarms.

But the city also has a lot to offer next to the international airport, four major bus stations and a super modern train station. You can visit the former United States embassy (hostage) and the still active one of Russia (Tehran Conference). The beautiful palaces of the former leaders of the country with their splendor and finally at the tomb of former spiritual leader Imam Khomeini. Tehran also has a big choice of interesting museums, restaurants and shops.

highlights

(former) US and Russian embassy:

At the heart of the city are two very important and extremely “sensitive” embassies; Both are high stone walled and are constantly monitored by cameras. Both of them have a long and moved history and can be described as a complex rather than a detached embassy building. In the former bunker under the American embassy, in 1953, the famous coup was forged to put the sjah on the throne. Nearly 30 years later, the building was occupied by Iranian fanatical students and more than 50 US embassy members were keeping hostage for more than a year. Now it is a museum (which is rarely open) and is populated by students. On the walls of the embassy there are anti-America and anti-Israel drawings. A few hundred meters away is the Russian embassy; the building where the war conference was held with the big three (Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill in 1943); it was at this building that Eastern Europe was given "away" to the Bolsheviks and the Normandy landing was pre-cooked.

"The Tomb of Imam Khomeini" and "Behesht-e Zahra"

Easy to reach by metro and close together - two sacred sites for Iranians and perhaps important and impressive to see for tourists. The complex built around the grave of Imam "Khomeini" is already impressive and will be even bigger than it is today. Four high towers, a golden dome, a mosque and the tomb within a building with glass and a white iron cage with a portrait and thousands of banknotes. A few hundred meters away, the glorious cemetery where hundreds of thousands of victims from the horrific Iraq-Iran war are buried. In small glass boxes, memories of the deceased in the form of plastic flowers, portraits, letters and other personal items.

Other sights:

"Sa'd Abad" palace complex, the bazaar, Iranian central bank (crown jewels), Azadi tower and the Nivarada palace.

"Golestan" palace: see below (museums).

history

Tehran is mentioned for the first time in the eleventh century BC; archaeological excavations have shown that the first inhabitants settled around 3000 BC in the area. Only in the 13th century was Tehran really mentioned in writings; It was clear that it was a place where pomegranates came from. At that time, Tehran was one of the villages around the great old town "Rey". When the Mongols arrived in 1220 the city of Rey and thousands of victims flew to Tehran that grew into a small commercial settlement. In 1550 under the first Safavid king "Tahmasb I" were built on the fertile and green soil of Tehran gardens, caravanserais and houses. A city wall was also built to defend the place.

Only after the seventeenth century, Tehran developed into a real city. Agha Muhammad Khan, the founder of the Kadjar dynasty, chose Tehran in 1788 as the capital of Iran. Prior to that, he had to settle first things with the current regent "Karim Khan Zand" who wanted to keep the capital in Shiraz. The second Sjah of the Kadjars, Fath Ali, which laid the foundation for a Persian cultural renaissance, builded beautiful and large palaces in Tehran. Under his government, many craftsmen and merchants from older Persian centers such as Kashan, Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz settled in the new capital. By now, one of the largest and most crowded and polluted cities in the world has passed two coups, two revolutions and many demonstrations and riots. And given the demonstrations because of radical Islam, this fuss has not yet come to an end.

tips & advice (2014)

Tehran is the country's main transport link - all buses, trains and planes go through this "hub". There are two airports;(the main national "Imam Khomeini" is by far the most useful to tourists). The train station is located in the south of the city and is not yet accessible by metro. In addition, there are at least four major bus stations - the southern "Jonub" (accessible by subway) is important for all roads to the south. "Azadi" station is important for all connections west and

northwest of Tehran. You can reach this station by metro. Traffic in the capital is chaos - traffic congestion, air pollution and traffic lacquer do not make it all the better.

In 2000, Tehran Metro opened an alternative to busy road traffic on some routes. In 2010, the network has three lines, a length of more than fifty kilometers and consists of 52 stations. Unfortunately, in the year 2014, the red line is still unsuccessful to the international airport and the blue line is still under construction.

Tehran - Kashan: There are several bus companies running from bus station "Jonub" frequent to Kashhan (whether or not to Isfahan); I had a VIP bus at 7:20 which took about 3.5 hours. You will be dropped off the road, but from there is walkable to the city center. Price: 220,000 IRR.

Tehran - Quazvin (Gazor Ghan): Take the subway (yellow line) to "Azadi-Meydan" where the terminal is. Near the metro there are a number of buses ready to travel to Quazvin every 15 minutes. The trip takes about 2 hours and costs 50,000 Rials. Ask if you want to go to "Gazo Khan" in the "Alumuts" at "Minodar" which is a big roundabout before entering "Quazvin" city. There are "savari" waiting to go towards the mountains. With four people you pay 600 Rial for a whole taxi (shared by 4 persons); The ride takes about 2 hours.

Tehran - (Sjarhaj) - New Delhi (INDIA): If you want to go to the international airport "Imam Khomeini" (IKA), take the red metro line (line 1) to Saheh station. This ride costs you 5000 IRR and takes up to 45 minutes from the center. Here are green minibuses going to the airport. This ride takes about half an hour and costs 25,000 IRR. It is another 25 km. You will be dropped for the terminal. In the future, the metro line will be extended to the airport.

Name: "Golestan" palace

Address: Ark square

Price: 150,000 entrance fee (each building separately 50,000 extra)

Time: 09:00 - 16:00

Content:

Located what once was the heart of the city, just north of the giant big bazaar is the "Golestan" palace. Very populair and “big” during the Qajar dynasty during the 19th century. Here you can find the famous "Peacock" of the Persian shahs in which he crowned himself king. But the whole walled complex has more to offer. Overwhelming "over the top" art, furniture and pictures that show ordinary life as well as the homely life perfectly. Different buildings give you a glimpse of life, but you can also wander in the medium-sized courtyard with different pools and beautiful tiling.

Name: "Khazar Sea" hotel

Address: No 12, Ohay Alley (Amir Kabir Ave)

Rice: 300,000 IRR (single)

Phone nr. : ++ 98 21 (33963405) / (33113860)

Content:

Near the heart of the city "Khomeini Square" is situated in an almost equally busy street. The rooms are divided over two floors around a small stone courtyard with a fountain. There are singles but also doubles but no dorms. The price is good but the place could be a bit cleaner - in some areas it just stinks. Also my room is not super clean and a hot wet mop would do miracles. The walls are not top (noisy) but in themselves the room is reasonable - there are two chairs and a small table, there is WIFI, a small sink, a fridge and a 1p bed. There is a small window and there is a hole in the wall in the corner so you can hear the neighbors. It's not overcrowded. The shower is outside and is fine - there are also two WC's. The boy at the front desk can be a bit moody, speaks some English, the other is a bit of a clumsy guy. The disadvantage is that he is taking your passport puts it on a shelf where everybody can reach it.

Tehran is generally spoken a very busy, filthy (considering the heaps of trash, carbage and the air pollution) and big city. There are exceptions here and there, but as a tourist the city is not the most populair in the country. Bazaars are more impressive elsewhere in the country and the tourist sites are spread across the big city. Fortunately, the subway offers some relief. Of course, if you are interested in history, you can certainly visit a palace, the former US Embassy or the Mausoleum of Khomeini. Even if you need something for things or want to arrange something, the capital can be important. Most tourists come here to arrive and depart from the international airport.

Places of Interest - Iran

"teheran"

introduction

highlights

history

tips & advice (2014)

see also:

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