Tuesday, June 9, 2015

A Walk Through Yazd


A second day in Yazd found us walking around town to see sights we didn't have time for the day before.  We started by stopping by Haj Khalifeh Ali Rahbar to purchase more sweets.  I bought several boxes of Persian cotton candy called pashmak, which means "wool-like" to give as souvenirs.  A short walk down the street brought us to the Yazd Water Museum.   








Housed in a beautiful old traditional house, the museum tells the story of water in a desert country.  Especially interesting were the displays about the qanats, a series of shafts and gently sloping tunnels which brought water from the mountains to desert areas to make it livable. The qanats were developed thousands of years ago and some are still in use today supplying drinking and irrigation water.  

Milad pointed out an old picture of men digging a qanat and asked us if we knew why the men would wear white to do such a dirty job.  We said we didn't know and he told us that the men worked in their burial clothes in case there was an accident and they were buried alive.  

We continued walking past shops and people selling things on the street. This little girl and her mother were selling cumin seed to passersby.  











The street ended at a large square which held the  Amir Chakhmaq Complex.  A three story structure with arcades of arches on either side, the mosque is the largest building of its kind in Iran. 












After visiting Amir Chakhmaq Complex and watching a group of school boys play a lively game of soccer in the square, we continued on to the Yazd Bazaar.  We saw lots of shops selling textiles and ceramics.  Along the way we ran into a group of lively young women who wanted to know where we were from and how we liked Iran.  We didn't pass up an opportunity to have our pictures taken with our new friends!






Milad promised us a special treat and took us to a tea house located in an old renovated traditional house turned hotel, the Malek o Tojjar. We took off our shoes and sat on one of the platforms scattered with damask cushions and covered with a Persian carpet in the beautiful central courtyard.  The waiter asked our guide where we were from and then produced flags representing the United Kingdom, Australia, Iran and the United States. 




 









Large bowls of exotic Saffron Rosewater and Pistachio Ice Cream were brought to us and then the waiter determined that the flags needed to be rearranged.  He told me that the flags of Iran and the United States needed to be next to each other because we were friends.  When we finished our ice cream the waiter surprised us with a tour of the hotel. 






We continued our 
walk through Yazd as Milad took us through a maze of alleys in an old part of the city.  






Finally we emerged onto a street in front of the Yazd Jame Mosque. The mosque towers over the city and it's minarets are the highest in Iran.  The beautiful tile work is done in shades of turquoise, Persian blue and dark blue, colors which are said to promote spiritual healing and peace.  This is one of the few mosques I visited in which I saw someone praying.  













It was around 3:30 in the afternoon when we finished our walking tour at the Jame Mosque. We walked a short distance to the Orient Hotel and got ready to go to our next destination, the Zein o Din Caravanserai.  

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