Travel Guide Kermanshah

Capital of the eponymous province, the city, built at 1 420 m altitude on the slopes of the Koh-e Sefid massif, has 695 000 inhabitants. With a very moderate continental climate, the average temperature generally does not exceed 22 ° C in the warmer months. Two major sites to remember in the vicinity: Bisotun and Polymerase-e Bostan. Bordering Kurdistan and Iraq border, the region occupies a strategic position, 525 km southwest of Tehran. The pervasiveness of the military speaks volumes about the potential instability of an area where the very strong Kurdish majority aspires to more autonomy. Economically, Kermanshah is an important trading centre in the western part of the country, oriented towards agriculture and industry. The region, a large producer of wheat, vegetables and fruit, also concentrates agri-food factories (sugar, oils, flour), cement plants and textile factories.HistoryIt is one of Iran's oldest cities. Kermanshah (literally «city of the king») was founded by the sovereign sassanide Bahram IV (388-339 of our era). Prosperous in the aftermath of the advent of Islam, the city is largely destroyed by the Mongols in the th century. On a crucial caravan axis, towards Baghdad, Kermanshah is naturally the subject of many covetous. Despite the fortifications erected by the Safavides kings, the great Ottoman rival seized in 1723, followed by the Afghans in 1727 (driven in turn by Nadar Shah in 1730). In the twentieth century, the city was temporarily occupied by the Turkish army between 1915 and 1917 during the First World War. The Iran-Iraq conflict between 1980 and 1988 will also cost it very dearly. With the province of Khuzestan, Kermanshah is indeed the theatre of the most important fighting.