The «noble city of Yazd», as it was designated by Marco Polo, lies in the heart of an ocean of sand. Bordered by the Dasht-e Kavir to the north and the Kavir-e Read to the east, it is an oasis town in the middle of the desert. Its peaks houses of one or two floors, complemented by a remarkable natural ventilation system (badgirs or wind towers), bear witness to the ingenuity of the people in the region. A know-how and beauty with the registration of the old centre of Yazd, the world Heritage Site of Humanity. It is difficult, therefore, to overlook this stage during your stay in Iran. Isolated in this environment so hostile to man, where winds of sand compete with extreme temperatures, the city - capital of the eponymous province - has close to 500 000 inhabitants.., a desert girl, has been by the convoys of the caravans. For centuries, between the Isfahan and Kerman provinces, between the Fars and Khorassan, it was a strategic position at the crossroads of silk roads in Central Asia and India. Located in the east of Mount Sir (4 074 m), of which the entire water resources of the city are derived, Yazd also beautifully illustrates the exceptional efficiency of the complex network of qanats. These underground canals, set up before our age and long for some 65 kilometres, draînent the mountain water and allow cotton and citrus cultivation. As one of the main weaving centres in the country, Yazd has been enriched by the silk trade. Marco Polo, referring to the yazdi, heavy local fabric, wrote in the th century: «  makes many splendid silk and gold sheets called iasdi that merchants carry in parts of the Orient to make business and profit.  '— Marco Polo, Le Devisement du Monde.HistoryFounded in the fourth century on the ruins of the ancient town of Katteh, during the sassanide period, the Greeks call it Isatis. From its origins, the city is called a centre for the production of textiles and carpets, so that the Mongols, yet ruthlessly destructive Mongols, will spare the city in the th century. The local Atabeg dynasty will continue on the throne. By the end of the th century, Yazd was once again saved by Timur's bloodthirsty troops. In the th and th centuries, the town reached its peak. Finally, it resists the economic crises of the safavide era, proof of the remarkable sense of adaptation of the Yazdis. A commercial crossroads, a weaving centre and luxury silk market, this city of manufacturers and traders, the provincial capital, never becomes capital of empire. From a religious point of view, no other Iranian city has created more theologians, naturally brought to orthodoxy. The builders of its countless religious buildings justify the honorary title of «abode of piety» (Dar al-Ibada), which the city boasts. After fourteen centuries of Islamisation, the country's largest zoroastrian community has 10 000 members.

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Ville de Yazd. Eric Martin

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