Yazd
Yazd or Yezd (یزد), is one of the most ancient & historical cities of Iran. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan, at 31.92° North, 54.37° East. As of 2000 it had a population of about 350,000 people. The city is the capital of Iran's Yazd province.
The city is ancient, known to date back to the 31st century BC. It was anciently known as Ysatis. Accoriding to UNESCO, Yazd is second city in the world constructed using adobe. Yazd was settled on an oasis on a sandy plain.
The old part of town is ringed by a tall mud-brick wall dating back to the 5th century.
Yazd was long a center of Zoroastrian culture, though today many Zoroastrians have moved to the capital Tehran or abroad. The Zoroastrians have their own language called Dari. The fire of the main Zoroastrian temple in Yazd has been burning for over a millenium.
Marco Polo wrote an acount of visiting the city in 1272.
The University of Yazd was established here in 1988.
External links
- Yazad on stanford.edu (http://tehran.stanford.edu/imagemap/yazd.html)
- Yazd.com (http://www.yazd.com/)
- YazdTourism.com (http://www.yazdtourism.com/)
Categories: Cities in Iran