SHEEDEE TRAVAL AGENCY

Taking an etymological look at the word "bazaar", one would be surprised at the varied facts about its origin.
  The first bazaar was evidently established while several people gathered to exchange their surplus goods. In other words, a bazaar is a place for the exchange of merchandise, foodstuffs and services between two or more people.
  Yet, bazaar has an expanded definition. It is a network of bargains between salespeople and customers. To put it in a nutshell, a bazaar can be clearly defined as the organized concentration of a current of exchanges by an assembly of salesmen and customers at a certain venue, fostering contacts to exchange goods and services.
  Presently, the word bazaar has grown to cover any place of exchange. But for a Persian reader, the word connotes a long narrow roofed labyrinth, featured by shops and caravansaries on both sides. A review of Iran's economic and social history indicates that the bazaar has always been a pillar of civic foundations. No town could survive without a bazaar--whether big or small. Some have allegorically described bazaar as the economic heartbeat of the Iranian cities.he ancient Iranian bazaars have gradually evolved into an encompassing section of the town. A bazaar was not a secluded section of the town, but home to a wide spectrum of goods and services, sought by the townspeople.

As the bazaar shops fell short of meeting the people's needs for goods and services, several arcades, specialized outlets and service. Provides were established to create a bazaar consisting of a central emporium surrounded by several smaller bazaars and arcades. Nearby the bazaars, there were always other public services such as baths, schools, mosques, Saqqa Khanehs (traditional drinking place), Zoor Khanehs (gymnasium for wrestling of wrestling and athletics typical of the Greek palaestra), teahouse, and others. This types of complex met the people's religious, social, economic and cultural needs. As important and major emporiums are the traditional bazaars of Vakil in Shiraz, Qeisariye in Isfahan, and those of Yazd and Kerman.     

Shiraz's Vakil Bazaar    

Vakil Bazaar is a umental structure set up by the founder of the Zand dynasty, Karim Khan (1747-79 AD). The cornerstone of the site is laid by a number of huge rocks, surrounded by four bazaars, and constructed by brick and gypsum. The bazaars meet at a cross point, which has a high dome-shaped ceiling. Some archaeologists believe Karim Khan himself designed the bazaar, without imitating any foreign model, pioneering a unique pattern for other Iranian marketplaces. Others argue however the Vakil bazaar is a spin-off of the great emporium of Larestan, built at the helm of Safavid King, Shah Abbas I's rule. Ruins of the Larestan bazaar still remain in place.    

Yazd Bazaar     

Yazd' s bazaar is one of the oldest and most interesting historical places of the central Iranian town. It is commensurably equal in significance and grandeur with the Yazd grand mosque. The bazaar is a major center for bargain and the exchange of goods. Though in ruins, the remnant bazaar's niches and domes are a reminiscent of a glorious past. Like the Vakil bazaar, the Yazd bazaar is home to a branch office of the former Royal Bank. There is no complete information, however, as to when or who established the bank branch office. During the past years, the bazaar was a major hub for trade, containing several key industries such as textiles, saddler and shoemaking. Even customers from outside Yazd frequented the emporium. The invasion of mechanized industries however, has played down the role of some of the traditional businesses lying at the heart of the bazaar. Since the ramparts of the "old" Yazd is located north of the bazaar, it may be concluded that the bazaar had been erected somewhere outside the town. During the summers, the weather in the bazaar is moderate, whereas in winters it is cold. There are some inlets all over the bazaar ceiling which let in limited beams of light.     

Isfahan Bazaar     

In Isfahan, the bazaar forms a part of the Imam Khomeini (former Naqsh-e Jahan) Square, which is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in the world. The square, 500 x 160 meters, was set up in the second half of the 16th century AD by the Safavid King, Shah Abbas I. At the time the square was used for a variety of purposes including as a polo field. Ruins of the opposing polo goal bars, engraved into stone still stand in front of the bazaar gate and the Imam (former Shah) Mosque. South of the square lies the Imam Mosque, facing the bazaar on the north. Ali Ghapou umental compound on the west and Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque on the east occupy other sides of the square. The Isfahan bazaar is briefly described as a district consisting numerous streets with stores on both sides connected together, under a high-rise roof. Some of the arcades, including the textiles bazaar and the Qeisariye market, have been ornately designed, thanks to their proximity to the royal palaces, and the famous mosques. In order to provide the necessary lighting for the bazaar's environment, some skylights were built on the roof to let the sunlight in. The reorientation of the sun in the sky changes direction of the light beam. Surrounded by four intersecting outlets, the shops of the Qeisariye bazaar are made of stone and built two-storied. The floor of the shops are entirely stone-carpeted and the roofs brick-made. There was a royal coin mint in the Qeisariye bazaar dubbed the "Imperial House". Historians say the mint was the only one of its kind in Iran. The goldsmiths' bazaar, which was built during the reign of the Safavid King, Shah Abbas I, was connected to the coffee bazaar, run by Kashan traders, through the canvas bazaar. The coffee bazaar branched out into four smaller marketplaces, one of them named Dar ol-Shafa. Other bazaars of Isfahan are the gun-makers' bazaar, flanked by the samovar-makers' bazaar and the flint-makers' bazaar. The two are sometimes comely described as fencers' bazaar.    

Tabriz Bazaar     

Tourists have described Tabriz as a city with beautiful bazaars. Tabriz' s bazaar is comparably one of the greatest and most beautiful bazaars of Iran, characterized by its unique architectural style, numerous arcades, shops and magnificent mosques. Tabriz' s bazaar is as old as the city itself. As Tabriz was located en route the trade caravans arriving from the east and west, its bazaar was the focal point for the exchange of Asian and European goods. With the expansion of Tabriz, its bazaar has grown so beautifully that it won the plaudit of many visiting foreign tourists. Moroccan tourist Ebn Battue, who visited Tabriz in the early years of the 14th century AD, praised the Tabriz bazaar as a developed market filled with goods, and one of the best in the world. "... Upon arrival in Tabriz, we approached a great bazaar named Qazan. It was the best bazaar I had ever seen in the world... Each of the guilds and professions had a special corner in the bazaar," he wrote in his travelogue. The famous bazaars of the Tabriz emporium were Amir bazaar, the shoemakers' bazaar, foreign exchange bazaar, Raste bazaar, Naminiduz bazaar, weavers' bazaar, cotton-carders' bazaar, Qezbas bazaar. and saddlers' bazaar.
The arcades were often the centers of wholesale business deals and distributions. The most important of which Hajj rasoul arcades was Rasoul, opened to the glass blowers' bazaar and to Tarbiyat Street. Along with its trade significance, the Tabriz bazaar is one of the masterpieces of the Iranian architecture, decorated with magnificent stuccos and high arched roofs.
Weekly Bazaars         

Along with the permanent bazaars existing in the Iranian towns and cities, there are also some occasional, say, weekly markets which were erected in a special district and were generally named after the day on which they were regularly opened, such as Friday bazaar or Saturday bazaar. Rural salesmen and vendors usually put up the weekly bazaars. The weekly flea markets offer a variety of merchandise at reasonable prices. They are often packed with customers, a determining factor that insure their survival. Hawkers and peddlers also spread their wares alongside the pavements and around the squares, calling on the window-shoppers to come closer and touch the quality of the merchandise. The weekly fairs offer a variety of goods and wares ranging from fruits to vegetables, foodstuffs, home appliances, fowls and, even handicrafts. Some shopkeepers oppose the weekly marketplace, for it robs them of their clientele. Others capitalize on the event by selling their low-quality goods and therefore compensate for the short demand.

One of the most attractive to visit is in the village of ABYANE, which was completely Zoroastrian right until the time of the intolerant Safavid Shah Isma'iI in whose reign most of the villagers emigrated to India or to Yazd. Even today their costume, way of life and ancient dialect are still practically unchanged. Drive for about 42 km to Dehji, along the road to Natanz, south of Kashan; a few kin, further on, see a good gravel road to the west, before the Hinjan bridge, where a sign indicates Abyane and the magnificent Barzrud valley. Some 25 km along this road, passing Hinjan village, you reach Abyane at the bottom of a gorge dominated by a small gol fort.

The main street goes right through the remains of the 'Atashkadeh' or temple, open on three sides and with a broken dome. About 300 m from the Atashkadeh, on the same lane, is an interesting mosque with a probably Safavid entrance and corridor, and next to it, below the present building, another mosque believed to be pre?Seljuk, with an exceptionally beautiful and unusual carved wooden mihrab protected by a sheet of glass.

Cyrus el grande (550-529 antes J.C.), el septimo rey de la dinastia Achemenida (550-330 antes J.C.), fundo Pasargades, la primera capital de los soberanos Achemenidas.  Según la tradicion, Cyrus habria escogido este lugar para construir su capital porque fue el lugar de su victoria en 550 antes J.C, contra el ultimo rey de la dinastia de los Medos (708-550 antes J.C.).  Esta batalla decisiva marca el principio de los años de conquista que finalizan con la formacion del imperio Achemenida.

Desde ese momento, Pasargades se vuelve el trono imperial de la dinastia Achemenida y permanece bajo el reino de Cyrus y de su hijo Kambyse II (530-522 antes J.C.). Con la muerte de Kambyse y la llegada al poder en 522 antes J.C, de Darius el grande (522-486 antes J.C.), Pasargades fue relegada a un rango secundario y Persepolis la reemplazo, pues la dinastia soberana de un imperio mundial debia ser instalada en cun marco mas grandioso y mas rico que el que Pasargades podia ofrecer.

A pesar de ese cambio radical de su vocacion, Pasargades continúo a prosperar, no solamente como santuario consagrado al fundador del imperio, sino tambien como importante centro religioso y militar.  Sirvio igualmente en el momento de las ceremonias de coronamiento de los reyes Achemenidas.  Cyrus llego a unificar la planicie irani y a establecer el primer gran imperio de Iran que llego bajo el reino de Darius a su apogeo, extendiendose del valle de Indus hasta Grecia, de Asia central hasta Africa de noreste.  Los vestigios de Pasargades, no tan bien conservados como los de Persepolis, se encuentran a 80 km al norte de este último.  Pasargades esta clasificada por la UNESCO y se compone de los monumentos abajo citados:

La tumba de Cyrus

El palacio privado

El palacio de audiencia

La tumba de Kambyse

El palacio del hombre alado

La terraza

Los altares del fuego

El caravanserail

Las corrientes de agua y las fuentes

El puente

Las fundaciones de los pabellones

La mas grande ciudad de tierra en el mundo

Las visitas mas interesantes de Iran es sin lugar a dudas las de Arg-e Bam (Arg significa ciudad fortificada). Considerada como la mas grande ciudadela de tierra en el mundo.  Bam esta situada a 185 km al Sur-Este de Kerman.  Es celebre por su ciudadela, sus palmeras y sus datiles blandos.  La ciudadela esta situada sobre un espolon rocoso que se inclina sobre la ciudad actual.  La base principal de la ciudadela data del siglo 13 antes J.C, pero las construcciones actuales se encuentran mas desarrolladas y fueron el objeto de reparaciones posteriores.  Antiguamente, una de las vias de la ruta de la seda, unia el Norte al Golfo Persico y a India, se llamaba la ruta de las especias.  Bam era una parada en esta ruta y en las rutas comerciales entre el Oeste (la provincial de Fars) y el Este (la provincia de Sistan va Baloutchestan e India).

Bam afronto muchas veces el asalto de invasores que surgian del desierto.  Bam conocio su derrota final cuando el ultimo Rey de la dinastía Zand (1750-1794), Lotf Ali Khan, acosado por Agha Mohammad Khan, el fundador de la dinastía Qadjar (1795-1925), se refugia en 1794, atrayendo sobre la infortunada población de Bam un castigo feroz.

Gran centro de manufactura textil durante la Edad Media, hoy en dia Bam, exporta solamente datiles y citricos.  Actualmente, las murallas fortificadas abrigan una ciudad muerta de calles con rastros de casas destruidas.  Utilizada como Comisaria de Bam hasta en 1931, el lugar fue después abandonado pero desde entonces remarcablemente restaurado.  La vista desde lo alto de la ciudadela sobre el laberinto de callejuelas abandonadas y las palmeras a sus pies es magnifico.

Después del terremoto en Diciembre de 2003, Bam fue en gran parte destruida.  El sismo causo 30,000 muertos sobre una población de 90,000 habitantes, y la ciudadela fue completamente destruida.  Desde entonces hacemos visitar la ciudadela de Rayen situada a 93 Km de Kerman.  Fue construida en el mimo estilo que Bam pero con dimensiones mas pequeñas. 

A 30 Km de Kerman, en el mismo camino, se encuentra la ciudad de Mahan.  Se puede hacer una parada para visitar el jardin de Shazdeh y el Mausoleo de Dervishe Shah Nematollah Vali.  La gente hace peregrinaje a la tumba del Dervishe muerto en 1431.  Shah Nematollah Vali funda una orden de Derviches en la cual se afilian las ordenes iraníes actuales.