The Zein-o-din Caravansary is located in Yazd province, Iran. This caravansary dates to the 16th century and is situated on the ancient Silk Road. It is one of 999 inns built during the reign of Shah Abbas I to provide facilities for travelers. Also Zein-o-din is one of the two caravansary built with circular towers. After its refurbishment, it has operated as an inn. Although the caravansary exterior view appears like a…

Chak Chak village consists of a Zoroastrian Fire Temple perched beneath a towering cliff face in the desert of central Iran. It is located amongst the mountains of Ardakan and Anjireh on the way to Tabas, about 46 kilometers from Yazd Chak Chak Means “drip-drip” in Persian, it is where Nikbanou, second daughter of the Sassanid emperor Yazdegerd III of Persia, was cornered by the invading Arab army in 640…

Cypress of Abarkuh The world's oldest cypress with more than 4,500 years old is located in Abarkuh, a city in Yazd province. It is likely the second-oldest living thing in Asia. Old cypress of Abarkuh with 25 meters, 18 meters and 5.11 meters in circumference of the trunk at the heart of Iran is alive, green and quiet. It is protected by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran as a…

Henna grinding is a 700-year-old profession still practiced in traditional bazaar of the city. The old style henna mill in Yazd is used to grind henna leaves into henna powder. This kind of mill has been used to process henna and other products in many countries. Such mill stones are limestones, they are driven by a donkey and attendant who walk slowly around the grinding wheel, slowly grinding and rotating…

Silence Tower In the Zoroastrian tradition, once a body ceases to live, it can immediately be contaminated by demons and made impure. To prevent this infiltration, Zoroastrians purified the dead body by exposing it to the elements and local fowl on top of flat-topped towers in the desert called Dakhmas. According to a tradition dating back over 3,000 years, bodies were arranged on the towers in three concentric circles. Men…