19 – 20 March 2014 – Kashan, Iran

After the chaos and noise of Tehran, we spent a couple of days in the peaceful city of Kashan.  The city is famous for its traditional mansions and is a centre for carpet weaving.

The staff of Ehsan Guesthouse having breakfast in the courtyard

This noble rag collector looked like he was descended from one of Iran’s Mongol invaders

No Ruz (Persian New Year) decorations for sale on the street

The bazaar of Kashan was full of shoppers making last minute purchases for No Ruz

Praying for favours at a shrine in the bazaar

 

Large flat sheets of bread cooking on hot stones in a domed brick oven

Picking the stones out of the cooked bread

In the bazaar, we saw carpet designs drawn on large sheets of graph paper pinned to the walls.

Ancient dyer’s workshop off the bazaar

Skeins of wool drying on makeshift wooden racks

The Khan Amin al-Dowleh Timche – a bazaar hall with a soaring, beautifully decorated dome

The Hammam-e Khan - an old bathhouse converted into a tea shop and restaurant

The Soltani Mosque on the edge of the bazaar

We spent an afternoon visiting the historical mansions of Kashan.  The mansions are traditionally made out of mud brick with rooms leading on to several courtyards and badgirs or wind towers which draw warm air up and out of the house keeping the house cooler.

Abbasian House

The Soltan Amir Ahmad Hammam was a beautifully tiled bathhouse

The manual water pump

The roof of the bathhouse

Skylights on the roof

Let light into the bathhouse

Tabatabaie Residence

The Masjed-e Agah Borzog, a mosque constructed from mud brick with tiled minarets

The Fin Garden

Qajar era fresco

Fin garden water source where we had lunch

In the Fin Garden museum was a re-enactment of an infamous political assassination with this cryptic display