Book "Unforgettable Iran". Chapter 13.2 Sights of Kerman. Mahan.
Most often, tourists miss this city, passing it in transit on the way to Bam or Pakistan. But in my opinion, a special atmosphere has still been preserved in Kerman: the city does not look like the touristy Yazd or the Mashhad flooded with pilgrims, it is not as hot as Bandar Abba and much safer than Zahedan, and there are plenty of attractions.
Here you can taste local cuisine, for example, national dishes with the addition of special cheeses “talf” or “kashk”, enjoy cookies with dates “kolo mpe” and “komach”, try the Kerman version of falude (“falude ye Kermani”) or a dessert from Sirja on “masghati”, date honey and syrup, pistachio oil. Buy real copper utensils on the market instead of a souvenir, they say that its production originated here, touch and evaluate the quality of Kerman carpets and tablecloths "patte".
And outside the city grow gardens with pomegranates, grapes, figs, oranges and the most delicious dates in Iran. Not far from Kerman is the hottest place on earth - the Lut Desert (Dasht e Lut), with a maximum recorded temperature of 70.7°C. Among its sands, as high as ten-story houses, there are stone skeletons - this place is called Kalut (in the English manner Kalyuts), tourists come here to meet the sunset.
The starting point for exploring the city is most convenient to choose Tohi d Square (Meidan e Tohi d), next to which is the Grand Bazaar (Bazaar e Sartasari) and Ganj Ali Khan Bazaar.
Nearby is the bathhouse "Hammam e Ganj Ali Khan", built in the 17th century. Its entrance is painted with various scenes with animals, and the interior is replete with mosaics and majolica tiles with patterns, wax figures are placed in the right places, clearly illustrating the work of the bath.
Pay attention to the "stones of time" - installed in the east and in the west. Through these translucent stones, the size of a door, the sun's rays penetrated, allowing people washing to approximately determine the time.
Near the bath there is a cozy Mosque of Ganj Ali Khan (Masji d e Ganj Ali Khan), you can climb the stairs at the entrance to the second floor.
Walking from the Golden Bazaar (Bazaar e Zargaran), find the bathhouse "Hammam e Ebrahim m Khan", now it is closed, but five years ago you could go through all the bath procedures here. To the right of it is a portal to the madrasah, the doors of which are a landmark of Kerman, as they have unusual handles in the form of lions, and these handles were previously conceived as knockers for doors.
To fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the city, go to Hammam e Vakil Chaikhane (Chaykhane Sonnati) for a cup of tea with cardamom, cinnamon or saffron, listen to the singing and playing of local musicians.
Video. Musicians playing national music in a teahouse:
http://video. yandex. ru/users/sanyok-belarus/view/29
There are many mosques in Kerman, but the oldest is the Imam Mosque (Masji d Emam), it was built back in the 11th century. and used as a Friday Mosque. Many times it was rebuilt and was partially destroyed, the restoration work is now almost completed. Aesthetic value is the technique of special bricklaying, which forms patterns on portals and buildings.
A little later, in 1349, a new, more spacious mosque was built, which adopted the name Friday (Masji d Jame).
The peculiarity of this mosque is a huge amount of mosaics decorating the walls and the main entrance, as well as the fact that the mosque has no minarets, and a clock is installed at the entrance.
Not far from Shohada Square (Meydan e Shohada) is the mausoleum of Moshtaghi e (Moshtari ye Moshtagh Ali Shah). Literally, the name means "three domes", the famous Sufi mystic Ali Shah is buried here.
Other sights of the city include the National Library of Kerman, which is located in a beautiful garden, which is a free Wi-Fi zone. The interior of the building is replete with columns; earlier there was a textile factory here, and now students are studying at their desks and computers. Going around the library, you will find a separate service building with a natural air conditioner - "badgir" (for more details, see the chapter on Yazd) and artificial air conditioners protruding from the windows.
On the other side of the wall, there is a huge clay dome - yakhchal, which was previously used instead of a refrigerator to store ice. Here is located the main office for tourism in Kerman.
Guidebooks advise visiting the Paleontological Museum with a collection of animal prints on stones found in the mountains near Kerman. However, the building was closed for restoration, I could only walk in the park (Park e Sangui) and climb the nearby mountains in search of those same prints.
On the outskirts of the city in the direction of Kalyuts, there is the Museum of Tombstones (Gonbad e Jabaliye). It is easy to see - it is an octagonal building, the purpose of which has not yet been clarified. Please note that the first two floors are not made of bricks, but of stones. The exposition presents very unusual stones with inscriptions engraved on them, unfortunately, all the tablets with explanations are in Farsi.
Neighborhood of Kerman. mahan
Mahan is located at a distance of only 40 km from Kerman, regular buses go there regularly, and the flow of passing cars is quite large. But that day I didn’t have to hitchhike, because in the morning my friends came to pick me up - a young couple Shoku fe and Mohsen. The main attraction of the city is the mausoleum of the famous Sufi dervish "Astan e Shah Nematallah Vali". The blue dome and minarets, decorated with mosaics, attract many tourists here. The small room where Shah Nematallah Vali spent his time in prayers is especially beautifully painted.
Five kilometers from the mausoleum is the garden "Bagh e Shahzde". With its ponds and fountains, pomegranate and orange gardens, blooming roses and tall trees, in the shade of which it is so nice to hide on a hot day, this place gave the impression of a real oasis in the middle of the desert.
Author: Kozlovsky Alexander.
Book: "Unforgettable Iran". 159 days hitchhiking.
Source: http://sanyok-belarus. people. en/
