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Yazd is about 300km south-east of Esfahan, in the middle of the desert. The town has been ignored by most of the invaders of Persia (with the notable exception Alexander the Great) because it is so remote. Water is brought to the town by a vast underground network of Qanats (water channels) 40 to 60km long and dating back probably 1000 years ago. The Qanats originate at an underground water source — usually at the foot of a mountain — and a small gradient brings the water to the town and nearby fields. Since the town depends on them, they have been continuously maintained ever since they were built.
During the summer months, the heat is so intense that people have devised a natural air-conditioning system. They build Badgirs, the tall wind towers that can be seen attached to houses in Yazd. These will re-direct even the smallest breeze down into the house below. Usually there is a fountain or a pool of cool water at the bottom of the badgir to further freshen the air. These work very well.
On Nov 4 1979, during the Islamic revolutions, some students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took the staff hostage for over 500 days. The government organizes large demonstrations to commemorate the event every year, and I had the surprise of finding myself in the midst of the demonstrators... Students, military and government workers are forced to take part in these demonstrations; which guarantees a certain mass of people, and in Yazd they bussed in people from the surrounding villages. Demonstrators were holding banners that said something like Down with America. At first I was apprehensive of the situation, but I soon realized that the students were excited to see foreigners and their reaction was opposite to that proclaimed by the banners. Still with the large influx of people it was a bit uncomfortable, but I never felt in danger.
Yazd's Jameh Mosque is from the 14th Century (early Safavid). Its entrance portal is particularly tall and has stunning tile work. In the courtyard there is a staircase that goes down to the Qanat, which drops water into a small pool. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the mosque the demonstrators from out of town were touring it and so it was not particularly quiet.
Bagh-é Doulat Abbad is the residence of former ruler Karim Khan Zand, built in 1750. It has the tallest Badgir in Iran at 33m high. It is set in a beautiful garden, with a vineyard which must have used for more than just eating grapes. There were also some pomegranate trees, that were just getting ripe. Stained glass windows further help in the keeping the house cool in the summer.
Yazd has the largest Zoroastrian community in Iran (Baku in Azerbaijan and the state of Gujarat in India are the other significant ones). Zoroastrianism was the religion of Persia before Islam came, reaching its peak during the Achaemenid Empire (see my notes on Persepolis). It was the first religion in the world to have a single omnipotent God. They worship fire as a symbol of god, and keep eternal burning flames in temples called Ateshkadeh, like the one on the left. The flame in this temple has been continuously burning since AD470! The temple isn't that old actually, the flame can be moved from one temple to another as long as it keeps burning. This is particularly impressive considering that Yazd in the middle of the desert and there isn't any wood in these parts. The Zoroastrian God is called Ahura Mazda, and is represented as a winged character with three layers of feathers symbolizing purity of thought, word and action.
Zoroastrians consider the body impure and thus cannot burry their dead (it would pollute the earth) nor burn them (it would pollute the air). So they used to build large towers, called Towers of Silence where vultures would pick the bones clean. If the vulture goes for the right eye first, the soul of the departed has a bright future; if its the left eye, the future is not so bright I guess... Nowadays zoroastrians are somewhat prosecuted by the Iranian government and so they bury their dead in a grave lined with concrete, which is certainly less visible. In the Christian New Testament, the three kings who visited Jesus in the stable, bearing gifts, were Persian Zoroastrians — probably early Sassanians.