Streets squares and districts to visit Central Plateau

A huge rectangular square of 160 m over 512 m, the place de l 'Imam is simply one of the largest in the world. Framed by mosquoise mosques, a palace perched on columns of wood wood and a covered bazaar, it is one of the most spectacular architectural ensembles in the country and the Middle East. In the background, the cupolas, the minarets, the sensitive agitation of the bazaar whose disdals leave north of the square: everything helps to evoke the most beautiful mirages in the East.

In the south, the great Royal Mosque faces the entrance of the great bazaar to the north (door Qeysarieh); to the east, the Cheikh Lotfollâh mosque faces the Ali Qâpu Pavilion (the High Gate). Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), the great safavide king, who will make Ispahan its capital in 1598, rebuilt a new city according to a simple and grandiose plan, with broad orders and wide breakthroughs. A good example of urban planning ahead of time. The heart was the Place of the King (1611), a huge perimeter surrounded by long double arcade walls, whose dimensions were planned to accommodate a polo field. It was in the Place Royale, covered with sand, that all the festivities and the great polo tournaments, which we still distinguish between the poles in front of the bazaar on one side and the mosque on the other, were held. Other less sympathetic demonstrations, particularly executions, were also held on the square. The center of the square today hosts watersheds and fountains that are animated by friendly horses drawing their sleeves throughout the day for the pleasure of tourists.

The Afghan invasion of 1722 will put an end to the magnificence of a city that will paint for two centuries to regain its rank. But the immense restoration work undertaken has made Ispahan's shine, which is once again among Iran's largest urban centers. With incomparable monuments like the Imam mosque (old Royal Mosque), one of the most beautiful of the country, Ispahan couldn't stay in the shadows.

Declared a heritage of humanity by UNESCO, the old town of Yazd founded in the fourth century (sassanid time), impregnates the traveler permanently. Take the time to stroll through its narrow strenuous streets to discover the ingenuity of the desert people to face the rigors of climate. Its old neighborhoods, completely in the bud, decline their ochre and the sobriety of their rounded lines. Behind high walls of Adobe - brick of uncooked clay directly dried in the sun - apparently abandoned patrician houses are still inhabited. As the excavator easily recedes, the maintenance efforts undertaken for centuries force respect. These real earthquakes with the many arcades are also overcome with wind towers (badgir), sometimes of monumental size, natural air conditioning before the hour. These vents capture the slightest desert breeze to refresh the overheated parts. Once inside, the thermal amplitude from outside sometimes reaches twenty degrees. Note also, characteristic of Yazdie architecture, the double doors with two different shapes and tones, intended for one man, and reserved for the other women. The owner thus knows from the outset the sex of the visitor.