Zanjan Tourism Guide

Shrinking land, drought and algae growth put stress on UNESCO site as tourist arrivals grow after lifting of sanctions.

Mohammad Ali Najib | 11 Feb 2017 07:44 GMT | Iran, Arts & Culture, Middle East

It has been more than a year since international sanctions against Iran were lifted, symbolically reopening the country to the rest of the world.

While political tensions between the West and Tehran continue, one of the industries that has benefited most from the thawing of relations is tourism, with the country reporting 18 percent growth in international arrivals last year. Visitors from North America, Europe and the Middle East represented more than a quarter of the total number of arrivals from January to December 2016, according to a ForwardKeys study published in January.

Among the top destinations in Iran is Persepolis, the 2,500-year-old heritage site, once considered to be the capital of the Persian empire. Located north of the city of Shiraz, Persepolis, also known as Takht-e-Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid), has been in ruins since Alexander the Great raided it in 333 BC.

What is left of the ancient city has become an attraction for local and foreign visitors alike, particularly after it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. At the Gate of Xerxes, two massive winged bulls with human heads, also known as Lamassu, stand at the eastern doorway.  

In recent years, however, agricultural activities have caused the soil around Persepolis to collapse owing to the depletion of groundwater and drought. Growth of algae and bacteria in the ruins have also threatened the many archaeological objects at the site, which was carved on the side of the Rahmet Mountain.

But with the reopening of the country, experts from Japan and Italy are lending their hands to preserve the site for the many visitors expected in the years to come.

Persepolis is a 2,500-year-old heritage site, once considered to be the capital of the Persian Empire. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Darius the Great, the king of the Achaemenid Empire, started to build the city in 518 BC, carving it on the side of the Rahmet Mountain. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

In 1971, Persepolis became the main staging ground of the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire, hosted by the Pahlavi Dynasty. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Persepolis, also known as Takht-e-Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid), was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

One of the most imposing parts of Persepolis are the Lamassus, the massive winged bulls with human heads, that stand on the eastern doorway of the Gate of Xerxes. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

After the ousting of the Shah of Iran, Persepolis continued to be protected, despite Ayatollah Khomeini's criticism of the lavish celebration in 1971. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Persepolis is also one of the most popular destinations among local tourists, especially during Nowruz, the Persian New Year. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Around 333 BC, the site was laid to ruins after the invasion of Alexander the Great. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Persepolis is located 60km northeast of the city of Shiraz and its international airport, making it accessible to international tourists. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

According to a recent study, Iran reported 18 percent growth in international arrivals in 2016. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Visitors from North America, Europe and the Middle East represented a substantial portion of tourist arrivals in 2016. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

According to a recent report, depletion of groundwater has caused land subsidence of as much as 600 metres, threatening the ancient site. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

In April 2016, Air France resumed its Paris-Tehran flights after eight years, opening up a new tourism market to the country. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Experts from Japan and Italy are lending their hands to protect the site from climate-induced destruction and human activities. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Persepolis still faces the possibility of losing its world heritage status if efforts to restore the site fail. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

زنجان - ایرنا - دبیر ستاد خدمات سفر استان زنجان گفت: از 25 اسفند 95 تا پایان سیزدهمین روز از فروردین جاری، 530 هزار و 505 مورد بازدید از جاذبه های گردشگری سطح این استان به ثبت رسید که این میزان نسبت به مدت مشابه سال گذشته 645درصد رشد دارد.

یحیی رحمتی روز دوشنبه در گفت و گو با خبرنگار ایرنا افزود: از 25 اسفند 95 تا سیزدهمین فروردین جاری، 109 هزار و 117 مورد اقامت مسافران نوروزی در مراکز اقامتی سطح این استان به ثبت رسیده است که این میزان نسبت به مدت مشابه سال گذشته 122 درصد افزایش داشت.
وی ادامه داد: طی این مدت 53 هزارو 610 نفر از گنبد سلطانیه بازدید کردند که این میزان نیز نسبت به مدت مشابه سال گذشته، 44 درصد افزایش داشته است.
رحتمی افزود: 23 هزارو 247 نفر نیز از بنا و موزه مردم شناسی رختشویخانه بازدید کردند که این میزان هم نسبت به مدت سال گذشته 52 درصد افزایش نشان می دهد.
رحمتی آمار بازدیدها از 25 اسفند 95 تا 13 فرودین جاری از موزه مردان نمکی و غار کتله خور را به ترتیب 18 هزار و 648و 13هزار و 975 نفر اعلام کرد و گفت: میزان بازدید از این 2 جاذبه گردشگری نیز نسبت به مدت مشابه سال گذشته، به ترتیب 74درصد و 66درصد افزایش داشته است. 
وی اظهار کرد: طی این مدت بیش از 421 هزار مورد بازدید نیز از سایر جاذبه های گردشگری استان زنجان به ثبت رسیده است.
مدیرکل میراث فرهنگی، صنایع دستی و گردشگری استان زنجان گفت: از 25 اسفند 95 تا 13 فروردین جاری به منظور نظارت بر ارائه خدمات مطلوب به مسافران و گردشگران در ایام نوروز، از سوی ستاد خدمات سفر استان یک هزار و 37 مورد بازدید از مراکز اقامتی و خدماتی سطح استان انجام شده است که نسبت به سال گذشته 112درصد افزایش دارد.
به گزارش ایرنا وجود بزرگترین گنبد آجری جهان، شگفت انگیزترین غار آهکی دنیا، مومیایی های مردان نمکی با قدمت بیش از 2هزار سال، طولانی ترین بازار سر پوشیده جهان و مردمانی مهمان نواز، استان زنجان را به میزبانی پرجاذبه و مهربان برای مسافران و گردشگران تبدیل کرده است.
گنبد سلطانیه یکی از 17 میراث جهانی ایران محسوب می شود که قدمت آن به قرن هفتم هجری شمسی، دوره ایلخانیان می رسد.
بنای رختشویخانه توسط علی اکبر توفیقی نخستین شهردار زنجان حدود 90 سال پیش با کاربری انحصاری شستشوی لباس و ظروف توسط بانوان، در مرکز این شهر احداث شده است.
بنای رخشتویخانه در نوع خود منحصر به فرد بوده و از سال 1377 به عنوان موزه مردم شناسی این استان نیز مورد بازدید گردشگران و علاقه مندان قرار می گیرد.
غار کتله خور از طولانی ترین و شگفت انگیزترین غارهای آهکی جهان است که در 80 کیلومتری شهر گرماب از توابع شهرستان خدابنده قرار گرفته است.
تا کنون حدود 22 کیلومتر از این غار آهکی نقشه برداری و شناسایی شده و در زمان حاضر یک مسیر 2 کیلومتری در آن برای بازدید گردشگران مهیا است.
'مردان نمکی' مومیایی های نمکی هستند که از معدن نمک روستای چهرآباد در حوالی شهر زنجان کشف شده اند. 
تاکنون 6 مرد نمکی از همین معدن کشف شده است که کاوشگران حدس می زنند همه این مردان در معدن نمک مشغول معدنکاری بوده اند که بر اثر ریزش، زیر آوار نمک مانده و در همان معدن مدفون شده اند.
بر اساس مطالعات انجام شده، قدمت مردان نمکی به بیش از 2 هزار و 300 سال می رسد.

خبرنگار: حسن اکبری ** انتشار دهنده: رویا رفیعی

I have never had people express so many opinions about my travels as when I decided to backpack Iran solo for two weeks. Everyone seemed to have something to say about it, with responses ranging from “That is amazing, I would totally join you if I didn’t have a U.S. passport,” to “You’re going there alone? What sort of death wish do you have?” and the blunt words of my extremely well-traveled great uncle, “Iran is not a nice place, go to Greece instead.”

A friend of a friend even wrote a Facebook note (people still write those?) about my plans, saying that I was either incredibly brave, or incredibly naive and ignorant. In the end he applauded my willingness to put myself in harm’s way in order to experience a place with real sexism, which he took to be some sort of feminist statement about being a woman in America.

What?! Sorry to disappoint, but really I just wanted to see Persia.

I mean, Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, hosts nineteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and boasts beautiful landscapes stretching from dense rain forests to snowcapped mountains to desert basins. Plus, so many backpackers whom I met in Central Asia absolutely raved about their time backpacking through Iran. The hospitable people, delicious food and historic sites – how could I not add backpacking Iran to my travel itinerary?

So, was backpacking Iran solo a good decision?

I’ve now been in Iran for a week and a half and, like most places, it’s not exactly what I had imagined. I’m writing this from my new friend Mina’s apartment, where we’re huddled together with hot mugs of tea listening to loud explosions coming from the street. Every few minutes a particularly large explosion will light up the apartment and we’ll look at each other with a mixture of fear and awe.

You guys, it’s the Persian New Year!

As part of the “Nowruz” New Year’s celebrations, which are Iran’s biggest of the year and include Zoroastrian rituals and traditions dating back 3,000 years, on the last Tuesday of the year, families gather together in celebration, building bonfires to run around and jump over, lighting off firecrackers, and sending fire lanterns into the sky, all with random outbursts of song and dance.

Backpacking Iran: Celebrating Nowruz in Tehran!

Earlier in the evening while we were all on the apartment building’s rooftop, Mina’s brother joked that this is probably every American’s nightmare of Iran.

“If your friends could see you now, in the middle of Tehran surrounded by fires and explosions, what would they think? Or maybe… this is what they think Iran is always like?”

backpacking Iran – scary stuff! (or not)

He was joking of course, but there was a sad element of truth to his words.

One of the first questions people here ask me is always, “What did you think of Iran before you came here?”

              See also: A Road Trip Through Iranian Kurdistan

My first Couchsurfing hosts in Tehran, a young Ph.D. student and her roommate, said they were so excited to be hosting an American girl, and that they hope more tourists will start to come to Iran. They were incredibly warm and welcoming hosts, cooking delicious Persian food and asking me countless questions about Norway and the U.S. and foreigners’ impressions of Iran. And unlike everyone at home, they seemed to think it was totally acceptable for a solo female traveler to backpack Iran. Just saying.

Mina, a girl from Tehran who invited me out to lunch through Couchsurfing was similarly curious about foreigners coming to Iran. She explained that while Iranians don’t necessarily like their government, they do love their country and are eager to share it with guests.

I really wish that I could have told them all that of course Americans are interested in visiting Iran and that they realize that there’s a huge difference between the people of Iran and their government, but I would probably have been lying. Most people whom I talked with about my trip offered me strong words of caution, with some even trying to convince me not to go, especially alone (and especially as a solo female traveler, ugh).

The thing is, I haven’t felt alone once since I landed in Iran.

The receptionist at my first hotel took me in as her daughter, accompanying me to breakfast and lunch and suggesting sites for me to visit, my Couchsurfing hosts were like cool older sisters, chatting with me about religion and politics as well as the plot twists of Lost and J-Lo’s divorce (I’m so out of touch), and Mina truly has adopted me as her sister, with an invitation to lunch turning into a trip to visit Esfahan and then several days with her family in Tehran.

Backpacking Iran: Esfahan

Perhaps solo female travel in Iran could be dangerous, but for me it hasn’t been an issue. I mean, even the tap water here is safe!

There have been times, as in any city, when I’ve been walking alone and noticed a man walking uncomfortably close to me. Whether the threat was in my imagination or not, all it ever took was for me to move close to another woman and the guy would quickly disappear. Scary stuff, Iran.

So far my experience backpacking in Iran has only been one of warmth and hospitality, and really, really amazing food! I’m tempted to think all this hype over solo female travel in Iran has been blown way out of proportion. Though, in a few hours Mina and I are backpacking to Marivan, a small Kurdish city on the border to Iraq. So you know, maybe I’ll have some more eventful things to share from there! (Kidding, family, Kurdistan is of course totally safe.)

 What to pack as a female traveler in Iran

You do have to dress conservatively as a woman in Iran, but you can still wear colorful, pretty clothes! Just make sure that your tops and/or jackets that you wear outside hit around your mid-thigh and aren’t low cut. And a normal scarf will work fine for covering your head – use a lightweight one in the summer and heavier scarf in the winter (and if, like me, you struggle with keeping it on your head, use bobby pins!).