Yazd Things to Do

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One of the greatest places you can see in Yazd is its Jame Mosque with the enormous gate and dome and its nice combination of colors-navy and khaki-all under the absolute blue sky.
If you want to go from Jame Mosque to Alexander Prison by cab it might take you a long time, but walking through narrow alleys is a cheaper and more comforting alternative.
Alleys mostly are roofed in traditional way and if it wasn't covered by Asphalts you would feel you're in the dynasty of Qhajars or Safavid or even further.

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For me after visiting Esfahan's numerous palaces, gardens and mosques It was undoubtedly worth to see how christianity exists in Iran and that was my second experience of visiting a Church which was great. The museum of the church is also so helpfull to know more about armenian.

There are three churches in Julfa, of which the most important is the Vank church or (The Church of the Saintly Sisters). This church has been built in the reign of Shah Abbas II, in 1074 (1663 A.D.).

Its design is very much similar to that of the domed sanctuary chamber of a Persian mosque, with the addition of a raised chancel and altar within a semi, octagonal apse. By contrast to its modest exterior, the cathedral`s interior is lavishly decorated.

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The Yazd province is home to the largest population of Zoroastrians in Iran. Zoroast was the ancient prophet of Persians, who had brought a religion, Zoroastrism, based on humanity and goodwill, which is still very alive.

These constructions are very important to the Zoroastrians, and normally include a building and beautiful gardens. They house the Holy Fire, which is cherished by Zoroastrians, and have been alight for over 1500 years. The Fire is kept in a case higher than the ground, far from sunshine. There are rooms for rituals around the monuments.

After all if you come to Yazd you should visit this place which helps you understand Persian culture more and more.

My local Yazd friend brought me to this place. I've never seen something like this before. I am not so sure where it is, may be somewhere near Amir Chaqmah. This place is like a traditional gymnasium where the locals - children, teens, adults and even oldies came to do workout. They will start with warming up and doing push-ups for about 20 minutes. Then they will start spinning according to the music and later using the weights, something like a baseball bat (see the pic), they will exercise their hands. The whole performance took more than 1 hour. There was a small entrance fees (not sure how much since my frined paid it) and chai were served (FOC).

My local Yazd friends took me to this desert (about 20 minutes drive from the town). We want to view the sunset. So happen that there were some para gliders at the desert. Wow....what a view. It was really a nice experience watching them para gliding, and the beautiful sunset too.

First time, the of this temple was brought to Aqda of Yazd province from Karian, Pars and it was kept there for 700 years, then it was moved to Turkabad of Ardakan and it was kept there for 300 years. At last it was brought to this fire temple in Yazd and it has been lit since for 60 years ( quoted from the signboard of the fire temple )

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Adobe bricks are a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous material (sticks, straw, dung), which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun. It is similar to cob and mudbrick. Adobe structures are extremely durable and account for the oldest extant buildings on the planet. In hot climates, compared to wooden buildings, adobe buildings offer significant advantages due to their greater thermal mass.

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A qanat is a water management system used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates. The technology is known to have developed in ancient Persia, and then spread to other cultures.

Qanats are constructed as a series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping tunnels. It is very common in the construction of a qanat for the water source to be found below ground at the foot of a range of foothills of mountains, where the water table is closest to the surface. This technique:

- Taps into subterranean water in a manner that efficiently delivers large quantities of water to the surface without need for pumping. The water drains relying on gravity, with the destination lower than the source, which is typically an upland aquifer.

- Allows water to be transported long distances in hot dry climates without losing a large proportion of the source water to seepage and evaporation.

The Yazd water museum explains these all. No admission charge (May 2008).