A Morning in Abyaneh

We took a day trip from Isfahan to visit two nearby places, Abyaneh and Kashan. On the way to Abyaneh, we passed by the Natanz nuclear facility where camouflaged anti-aircraft tanks sit close by the highway.  Milad told us to make sure we put our cameras away as taking photos in this area is expressly forbidden. This was one time Milad was not making a joke and we made sure to comply.

After about two and a half hours on the road, we arrived in Abyaneh, one of the oldest villages in Iran. It was a picturesque sight as the red mud brick houses are built one on top of another and the town is a maze of narrow winding lanes and hidden corners. This village is not undiscovered though and we shared our wanderings through the town with a large group of Asian tourists. 

The old women of Abyaneh came out to see if we would buy some dried fruits from them. They were dressed in unique costumes unlike the traditional black chador or more modern headscarf and manteau seen in the rest of Iran. The women of Abyaneh wore white shawls patterned with colorful floral and leaf motifs over bright colored tops and black skirts and tights. 

Milad told us that for the old women of the town, selling dried fruit was their only way of making money. All of the younger people of Abyaneh have left the village for the large cities where there is more opportunity for education and employment. I wondered if this contributes to the general air of sadness and feeling of emptiness about the town.

We walked to the Zeyaratgah Shrine where we are rewarded with beautiful views of snow capped mountains in the distance under brilliant blue skies. Walking around the shrine, I came to a small room lined with the photos of nineteen men. Milad told me these are martyrs from the Iran-Iraq War. It was a poignant and haunting sight, the deep scars of that war which exist in this small village and all across Iran.

Milad suggested we go see Abyaneh from a distance. We climbed up a zigzag path to the top of a steep hill and found a good vantage point to see the village. Here we saw the way the houses sit one on top of another, stacked and rising up the opposite hill. 

There were still small drifts of snow on the ground and on the surrounding mountains and it formed a nice contrast to the red mud bricks of Abyaneh and the brilliant blue skies. We shot lots of great pictures before walking back down the hill to leave and go to Kashan.