LINDA's Site

 

There are a lot of historic and tourist attractions in Iran. Iran is an ancient country that can offer plenty of historic  and tourist attractions to its visitors.Of course, there are various interesting things in each city of Iran. It just takes you to travel to Iran and see it for yourself. I've tried to look at the cities through the eyes of the tourists and see the things you usually see.

Iran (Persia) is a Middle Eastern country located in Southwest Asia bordering Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkmenistan to the north, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, Turkey and Iraq to the west. Although locally known as Iran at least since the Sassanian period, until 1935 the country was referred to in the West as Persia. In 1959, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi announced that both terms could be used. In 1979 a revolution which was eventually led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, established a theocratic Islamic Republic, changing the country's official name into the Islamic Republic of Iran. The name Iran is a cognate of the Aryan meaning "Land of the Aryans."

 By its people, Iran or Persia has been called Aryanam since ancient times and Iran/Eranshahr since the Sassanian period. "Aryanam" is the ancient version of "Iran" and the old genitive plural meaning (land) of the Aryans. The term Persia is the name used for this country by European countries since the Persian Empire of the Achaemenids in the 6th century BC. See also: Iran naming dispute

 Iran traces its national origin to Persia, an empire that emerged in the 6th century BC under the Achaemenid dynasty. Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, called himself "King of Iran". This vast empire controlled areas from present day Greece to what is today Pakistan. Indeed, the name Persia is derived from Persis, the ancient Greek name for the empire. Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but soon after Persia regained its independence in the form of the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. The latter was defeated by the Islamic Arab forces in the 7th century.

 The 16th century saw renewed independence with the Safavids and then other lines of kings or shahs. During the 19th century Persia came under pressure from both Russia and the United Kingdom leading to a process of modernisation that continued into the 20th century.

 By the 20th century Iranians were longing for a change and thus followed the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905/1911.

 In 1953 Iran's prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq, who had been elected to parliament in 1923 and again in 1944 and who had been prime minister since 1951, was removed from power in a complex plot orchestrated by British and US intelligence agencies .

Many scholars suspect that this ouster was motivated by British-US opposition to Mossadeq's attempt to nationalize Iran's oil. Following Mossadeq's fall, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Iran's monarch) grew increasingly dictatorial. With strong support from the USA and the UK, the Shah further modernised Iranian industry but crushed civil liberties. His autocratic rule, including systematic torture and other human rights violations, led to the Iranian revolution and overthrow of his regime in 1979. After more than a year of political struggle between a variety of different groups, an Islamic republic was established under the Ayatollah Khomeini by popular vote.

 The new theocratic political system instituted some conservative Islamic reforms and engaged in an anti-Western course. In particular Iran distanced itself from the United States due to the American involvement in the 1953 coup, which supplanted an elected government with the Shah's repressive regime. It also declared its refusal to recognize the existence of Israel as a state. The new government inspired various groups considered by a large part of the Western World to be fundamentalist. As a consequence some countries, currently led by the USA, consider Iran to be a hostile power.

 In 1980 Iran was attacked by neighbouring Iraq and the destructive Iran-Iraq War continued until 1988. The struggle between reformists and conservatives over the future of the country continues today through electoral politics and was a central Western focus in the 2005 Elections where Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphed

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 Cyrus (Kourosh in Persian) is regarded as one of the most outstanding figures in history. His success in creating and maintaining the Achaemenian Empire was the result of an intelligent blending of diplomatic and military skills and his rule was tempered with wisdom and tact. The Persians called him 'father'; the Greeks, whom he conquered, saw him as 'a worthy ruler and lawgiver' and the Jews regarded him as 'the Lord's anointed'.

 His ideals were high, as he laid down that no man was fit to rule unless, he was more capable than all of his subjects. As an administrator Cyrus' insight was great, and he showed himself both intelligent and reasonable, and thereby made his rule easier than that of his previous conquerors.

 His humanity was equaled by his freedom from pride, which induced him to meet people on the same level, instead of affecting the remoteness and aloofness, which characterized the great monarchs who preceded and followed him.

 History has further labeled him as a genius, diplomat, manager, and leader of men, the first great propagandist and able strategist. Cyrus was indeed worthy of the title "Great".

 Cyrus the Great, came to power after deposing the Median king Astyages in 550 BC. After a series of victories over the Lydian king, Croesus, in 546 BC, and after his successful campaign against the Babylonians in 539 BC, Cyrus established a large empire stretching from the Mediterranean in the west to eastern Iran, and from the Black Sea in the north to Arabia.

 Whereas security was his main concern in the east, the immense wealth of the Greek maritime cities of the Ionian coast complemented their value as strategic bases in the west.

 He was killed in 530 BC during a campaign in the north-eastern part of his empire.

The famous clay cylinder of Cyrus the Great,

written in Babylonian cuneiform, recording his capture of Babylon in 539 BC.

 "I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, ...king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, ...descendant of Teispes, ...progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasures.When I, well-disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation and rejoicing. Marduk, the great God, caused the big-hearted inhabitants of Babylon to come to me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon. I did not allow any to terrorize the land of Sumer and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon ...their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.....the cities of Ashur and Susa, Agade, Eshnuna, the cities of Zamban, Meurnu, Der, as far as the region of the land of Gutium, the holy cities beyond the Tigris whose sanctuaries had been in ruins over a long period, the gods whose abode is in the midst of them, I returned to the places and housed them in lasting abodes. I gathered together all their inhabitants and restored to them their dwellings..." 

Throughout his reign, Cyrus was continually preoccupied with his eastern frontiers. Nine years after the conquest of Babylon he was killed in battle, though the circumstances of his death are not clear. Cyrus' body was brought back to Pasargade; his tomb, which still exists, consists of a single chamber built on a foundation course of six steps. According to Arrian (AD c. 96-180), the body was placed in a golden sarcophagus, and the tomb, as Plutarch (AD 46-120) reports bore the inscription.