Travel Guide Gorgan

At the south-east end of the Caspiennese sea Dresse, with its shopping streets lined with chestnut trees, its large green roundabouts and its small low houses with tile roofs. With its 330 000 inhabitants, it looks like a European city. It does not have a major tourist site, but it is very pleasant to stop there for one night and to wander in the streets that border the large arteries to discover the traditional constructions with large verandas. Every Wednesday morning, the market is held in the west of the city, south of Motafeh square, towards Quadir Boulevard. A good opportunity to see the typical dishes of the region. Located at the foot of the Montagneuses mountain passes, at the boundary of the forest zone before the steppe, Gorgan was an important market for nomadic Turkmen and an essential stage for caravaneers. The latter will give the city its first name: Aster Abad or the "city of mules". Today, Gorgan marks the terminus of the railway line serving east of the coast from Tehran. Mainly provincial, the city nevertheless has some interesting monuments and remains a pleasant base for excursions in the region. See in particular the tépés, artificial hills formed by the superimposed ruins of an ancient city, along the slopes of the steppe, such as Turang Tépé, 17 km north of Gorgan.