The first structure of the castle is attributed to the reign of Sassanid Shapur I in century 3 AD. Falak-ol-Aflak Castle was of great importance and Roman prisoners were imprisoned there during the Sassanid era. The castle was rebuilt during Fath-Ali Shah Qajar’s reign and was used as a military detachment and political prison in the Qajar era.

This castle was as the seat of government of Hasanawayhids and as the treasurer in Buyid dynasty in the 4th century AH due to its strategic position. Since the 6th century AH when the new city of Khorramabad was built, the castle became also known as Khorramabad. The name of Falak-ol-Aflak might have been given to it in Qajar dynasy.

Considering the fact that the twelve towers resemble the twelve astrological signs of the celestial zodiac, the Falak-ol-Aflak name may have been derived from there. Falak-ol-Aflak literally means the ‘sky of the skies’.

Falak-ol-Aflak Castle has an area of 5300 square meters. There were twelve towers in the castle, only eight of them have remained. The height of the tallest wall of this castle is about 22.5 meters from the ground. The height of the entire structure, including the hill, reaches to 40 meters above the surrounding area.

The materials used in the construction of the castle are stone, red brick, clay and mortar plaster and lime. There are four big halls, two courtyards and chambers inside the castle.  The entrance gate is placed on the southwest tower with a height of three meters and a width of ten meters.

There are two courtyards in the castle, the first one is surrounded by four towers which two of them are located on the north and northwest and the other towers are placed on the south and southwest.

There is a depth 40 meters water well in the northeast corner of the first courtyard that supplies the water of the inhabitants of the castle. The bath of the castle is also situated on the north side of the first courtyard, near the well.

The second courtyard has a structure same as the first courtyard. It has four towers and also four big halls that are linked together.

One of the amazing architectural points of this castle is a hide escape route on the south side and the underground routes on the north and east side. There are also an equipped laboratory and a big library beside it in the castle.

There are two museums of anthropology and archeology in Falak-ol-Aflak Castle which beautifully displays the customs and historical objects of this ancient land. Some of the historical monuments and unique objects from different periods of the Lorestan province have been displayed in the archeological museum of this castle.

Numerous small and large photographs and different traditions of nomadic men and women living in the Lorestan region are displayed in the anthropological museum.

Falak-ol-Aflak Castle was built on the hill so that the wind could penetrate the building and dry its foundations. The castle is made with different materials like stone and wood that are vulnerable to humidity.It appears to have been built with a dehumidifier system which is one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Its beauty and wonderful architecture have caused many experts name it as one of the engineering and architectural masterpieces of the world. It has been registered in the list of Iran’s National Heritage under the registration number of 883. Falak-ol-Aflak is on the Tentative List of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites as an example of Persian Architecture.

The best time to visit Falak-ol-Aflak Castle is late June until late September.

The post More than just a castle appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Vali Teymouri, Iran’s deputy director for tourism affairs told the South China Morning Post that the Iranian government’s new visa waiver program for Chinese visitors – first announced in June – could be implemented as early as the end of this month.

Teymouri said Iran is expected to “attract one million Chinese in the near future” through the visa waiver, a significant increase on the more than 52,000 Chinese who visited the Middle East country in 2018.

“We believe that the two countries have had common cultural and trade communications for a long time. So we should facilitate and improve mutual collaborations, especially in the tourism industry,” he said.

In late June the Iranian government had passed a regulation to cancel visa formalities for Chinese nationals, at the suggestion of the country’s foreign ministry and the tourism agency, Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

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Iran is a country of immense beauty, charm, and ancient-world mystery. From the Caspian Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, Iran is filled with numerous tourist attractions–mostly untouched.

Among many attractions, astronomy tourism, a type of tour which can flow a big sum of money to the sector’s pockets, has garnered a lot of attention lately.

Iran – a land covered with wide deserts in the eastern and central parts, where the melody of the wind is the only sound that reaches the visitor’s ears – offers some of the most pristine star-gazing conditions in the world.

To make the pest of such opportunities, travel agencies have been trying to organize tours on this ancient fascination to allow interested individuals to witness the beauty of the night sky it all its glory, far away from cities’ light pollution.

Worth to mention, the deserts of Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut provide clear skies for astronomy enthusiasts, making them some of the greatest places on the planet to witness the Heavens, and learn about the mythology of the stars, find constellations in the sky, listen to their stories in an interactive experience.

There are many other ancient sites in the country used to be the centers for mathematical astronomy. It should come as a little surprise that such places have now become top travel destinations for the aficionados.

Mathematical astronomy was used to build multistory ziggurat towers, such as Chogha Zanbil in Susa (in present-day Khuzestan province), dating back to the Elamite Era. Ziggurats functioned as observatories; at seven-floors high, ziggurats were used by astronomers to observe and record the movement of celestial bodies. Tables with astronomical computations of the distances between stars have been preserved and contain information on the basic fixed stars and constellations, their relative positions, and periods of the solar rising and settings, among others.

Ka’ba-ye Zartosht in Naqsh-e Rostam (located in present-day Shiraz), which was built during the Achaemenid Era, bears surprisingly detailed inscriptions of the cycle of days.

In the following centuries, more advanced structures called Chahar Taghi (meaning ‘four arches’ in Farsi) were used by astronomers to create calendars and almanacs. The most famous of such structures are the Niasar Chahar Taghi, Isfahan Province and the Radakan Chahar Taghi, Khorasan Razavi Province.

Sadly, not everyone has the time to take an astronomy tour; life has a habit of getting in the way of living; so, the stars have been brought to the city.

Gonbad-e Mina Planetarium

The Gonbad-e Mina Planetarium, located in the Abbasabad Hills area of Tehran, is designed to show the night sky in all its glory – even during the day.

The planetarium makes sure everyone gets a chance to gaze upon the starts without the nuisance of light pollution.

Featuring a full-dome 3D planetarium, Gonbad-e-Mina is said to be the largest in the Middle East. It provides astounding views of the sky reflected upon the ceiling.

There is a projector at the center of the planetarium and separate projectors for the Sun, the Moon and other planets and stars. It has been primarily built for presenting educational and entertaining shows on astronomy.

One of the most intriguing star shows at the planetarium is the projections of the night sky at various latitudes and longitudes at any moment in the past. Visitors are also treated to the position of unique constellations as seen from the northern and southern hemispheres.

The projection system, paired with the digital surround sound channels provide a surreal experience as you are taken on a journey through space.

The planetarium also houses a museum, showcasing ancient artifacts used thousands of years ago to observe and study the sky. One such artifact is the 2000-year-old Parthian Battery – discovered in the ancient city of Ctesiphon in 1936 – which is said to have been used as an electrical storage device. Another item of note is an astrolabe; a very ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the Sun and stars in the sky.

Other projects

There are a few other projects underway across the country to boost astronomical tourism capacities.

A major one is the Iran National Observatory in Kashan, Isfahan province.

The observatory is currently under construction and is slated to become operational by Autumn 2020.

Its design includes three stations with one large and two smaller telescopes, making it possible for the aficionados to enjoy looking deep into the skies.

The government is paying special attention to the tourism sector in line with the policies to diversify its revenue sources and reduce reliance on selling crude oil.

According to World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual research, the travel and tourism sector grew at 1.9% to contribute 1,158 trillion rials ($8.83 billion) or 6.5% of overall GDP and 1,334 jobs (5.4% of total employment) to the economy in 2018.

The WTTC report also shows international visitors spent 168,954 billion rials ($1.28 billion) in Iran in 2018. The council expects the number of international arrivals to stand at 6.5 million in 2019.

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The cave dates back to Jurassic period (120 million years ago) and it had a lot of natural and artificial changes during this period. It was discovered about 67 years ago by a group of Iranian cavers. One of the Zanjani members of the group named Seyyed Asadullah Jamali has registered this cave.

In some western parts of Iran, “Katale” is reffered to low altitude mountains and the appellation of this cave is probably due to its existence in one of these mountains. Khor has Avestan root which means Sun. Therefore, Katale Khor means “mount of Sun”.

At first, cavers had to crawl to enter the cave 700 meters. This cave was residence of ancient people so that bones of about 80 people are still preserved. Then the region was excavated and a route was created for walking. Researchers found a strange route in this cave which shows Katale Khor is connected to Ali Sadr Cave in Hamedan Province, at distance of 100km.

Katale Khor and Ali Sadr Cave are roughly homogeneous and created at the same time, but there are two main differences: the Ali Sadr Cave is water cave where you sit in a boat and watch the view but Katale Khor is almost dry. The second distinction of this cave with Ali Sadr Cave is that Katale Khor’s limes are purer which makes it more transparent. Lime stalactites and stalagmites, as well as huge halls and corridors which are mainly dry have added to the beauty of the cave.

One of the features that made this cave one of the unique caves in the world is that the cave has 7 floors but so far only 3 floors have been discovered and there are waterfalls on its different floors. The stalactites in this cave are beautifully shaped and some of them are named after those shapes. Some of the most famous parts in this cave are bride and groom, marriage cloth, sleeping lion, hound, lion paw and elephant’s foot.

There are two visiting routes inside the cave; 3km open to the public and another 4km available only for experienced cavers. Tourists can visit 2850 meters of the cave in the first floor and visitor are asked to stop touching the stalactites and stalagmites to avoid and devastating.

The best season to visit Katale Khor cave is in spring and summer. Visiting this cave will take half a day.

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The province is divided into 10 counties: Ardabil, Bilasavar, Germi, Khalkhal, Kowsar, Meshginshahr, Namin, Sarein, Nir, and Parsabad.

Sarein or Sareyn is a small city in the west of Ardabil with an area of ​​more than 1.28 square km. It stands 28 km from Ardabil. The city is famous for its numerous spa springs and one of the tourist areas in Ardabil province.

Sarein attracts more than five million tourists annually who travel to this region from different parts of Iran and the world because of climate and hot springs. There are nine hot springs which are very different in terms of composition and properties.

Etymology

The word Sarein in the Persian dictionary means “cool place” and “headwater”.

Culture

To study the culture of Sarein’s people, we have to study the culture of the Azerbaijani people, especially Ardabil. These people are the creator of one of the richest treasures of oral literature of the nations in the Middle East and Iran. The foundation of the Azerbaijani literature is based on folklore.

Language

The main language of Sarein is the Azeri, however Persian is the official national language.

Traditional Foods

‘Ashe Doogh’, also known as ‘yogurt soup’ is one of the traditional soups in Sarein. It is a soup usually made from yogurt or doogh, as well as chickpeas and vegetables.

Local ‘Kebabs’ in this area are also very popular and delicious for tourists.

‘Doogh’ or ayran; a classic Iranian drink which is a combination of water, yogurt, mint and salt.

Souvenir

“Honey” which is produced locally by the bee keepers of the region is one of the famous things in Sarein. It is produced on the hyacinths, basil and vetches slops of Sabalan Mountains. It has been renowned for its quality.

Sarein Tourist Attractions

Sarein is famous for its numerous hot springs which causes many tourists travel to this city every year in summer. ‘Gavmesh Goli’ hot spring; one of the popular hot springs in Sarein is very useful for the treatment of general, women and heart diseases, as well as general strengthening of the body.

Sarein hot springs are as follows:

Qarah Soo (A’saab) Thermal Spring

Sari Soo Thermal Spring

Gavmesh Goli Thermal Spring

General Thermal Spring

Besh Bajilar Thermal Spring

Qahveh Suei Thermal Spring

Pehenlu Thermal Spring

Another attraction of Sarein is ‘Goorgoor Waterfall’ which is located 10 to 15 kilometer from Sarein. It is 12m high and it is located in the northern slopes of Sabalan Mountain. It attracts many nature lovers to the Ardabil province.

‘Kanzag’ is a historic village in the Central District of Sarein. It has historic caves related to the Parthian period which have been registered in Iran’s National Heritage.

‘Alvares’ is a ski resort located 24 kilometers away from the city of Sarein. Many tourists travel to this area to ski and also enjoy winter sports every year.

‘Anahita Hill’ in Sarein was once called Water Goddess, it has been discovered on the basis of excavated earthenware and historical documentation.

‘Gulistan Valley’ is one of the widest and most beautiful valleys in Ardabil province. It is Sabalan’s east vally and habitat of partridge, goat and mouflon.

‘Vargehsaran waterfall’ is one of the most spectacular spots of Sabalan’s green slopes.

Best Season to Visit

The best season to visit Sarein is late spring and summer. It is not a favorite destination in autumn and winters since it gets so cold. The minimum temperature is -8° C and the maximum 25° C in Sarein.

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