QAZVIN Province

The Qazvin province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in the north west of Iran, with the city of Qazvin as center. The province was put as part of Region I upon the division of the provinces into 5 regions solely for coordination and development purposes on June 22, 2014. 68.05% of Qazvin population lives in cities and 31 95% in villages. The ratio of men to women is 50.7 to 49.3%. 99 61% of the province population were Muslims and 0.39% of the rest came from other religions. The literacy rate is over 82% ranking 7th in Iran.

Chehel Sotoun Palace

Chehel Sotoun Mansion or Pavilion is one of the important monuments of Safavid period in Qazvin located in the center of Qazvan City, south of Sabzeh Meydan (Azadi Square) in a large garden. Only a pavilion left from the royal palace complexes of Shah Tahmasb period. This monument was refurbished by Mohammad Bagher Sa'ad Al-Saltaneh, the then governor of Qazvin, in Qajar period and named "Chehel Sotoun". The murals of the first floor are a good example of Qazvin miniature and enjoy worldwide fame. The style of these murals has been inspired by political changes, in a way that the emergence of Nader Shah and Afsharid dynasty can be seen in Chehel Sotoun. This monument is currently being used as museum of calligraphy. The nearest tourist attractions to the palace are Facade of Ali Qapu, Naderi mansion, Qazvin museum and Safavi garden complex.

Cantour Church

Cantour Church known as "Bell Tower" was built by Russians in Qazvin during the Second World War when Iran was conquered by Russians. Like other churches, this small church is in cruciform and its altar faces the east. The bell tower is above it with about eleven meters height. The hall includes a praying room and an altar and there are two rectangular sections on its both sides. There are graves of Russians in yard. The church has a totally different architecture than other buildings in Qazvin due to its irregular polygon, the red brick façade, glazed bricks and decorative geometrical forms. The nearest tourist attractions to the church are Museum Palace of chehel Sotoun (Kolah-Farangy mansion), Qazvin Museum, Grand Hotel and Naderi Mansion.

Sa'd al-Saltaneh Caravanserai

Caravanserai of Sa'd al-Saltaneh was built by the order of Sa'd al-Saltaneh (died in 1907), the then Qajar governor of Qazvin during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah. This caravanserai has a very beautiful historical area which is currently the biggest urban caravanserai complex in Qazvin. Caravanserai of Sa'd al-Saltaneh is one of the rare Iranian caravanserais that contains several bathrooms, Saray, arcade, Shotorkhan, Chahar-souq. Rasteh, mosque, tea house and so on. This caravanserai was used as a trade house.

Alamout Castle

Alamout (eagles nest) was a mountain fortress located in Alamout region in the south Caspian province of Deylam near the Roudbar region in Persia (Iran), approximately 100 km from present- day Tehran. Between 1090 and 1256, under the leadership of Hasan-e Sabbah, Alamout became the site of intense activity for the Shi'a Nizari Ismai’lis, functioning as the headquarters of their state, which consisted of a series of unconnected strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory (the Seljuq Empire). Today, it lies in ruins, but because of its historical significance, it is being developed by the Iranian government as a tourist destination. The Castle of Alamout was built on top of an unassailable granite rock, on one of the peaks of the Alborz range.

Darb-e Koushk Gate

Darb-e Koushk Gate of Qazvin is one of the oldest gates of Qazvin town which used to be the gate to Alamout, Roudbar, Koushks and northern hunting ground of Qazvin. It has an arch and semicircular shape. Two arcades were built on each side of the corridor that are softly come out and implying an open arms status. This gate has only one view towards the suburban areas, and this view is tiled and Rasmi-Bandi is used in it, and the inside looking wall is made of ordinary brick. The tiling of this building was done in the ruling time of Azed Al-Molk Qajar.

Amini-Ha House

Amini-Ha House (Hosseiniyeh) is a beautiful luxurious house in Qazvin which was built in the west of Dezej River by Haj Mohammad Reza Amini, One of wealthy merchants of Qazvin in 1858. Later, the river was replaced by Mowlavi Street in Pahlavi dynasty. Amini-Ha Hosseiniyeh is a sample of traditional houses. Today, four yards and various parts have remained on the ground floor and in the basement. The most beautiful part of the house consists of three parallel halls which are connected with each other. The ceiling of the halls is decorated with paintings, mirror work, bowl racks, stucco and wooden Girih tiles. There is a crypt, basement, soda shop, etc. under the halls. The nearest tourist attractions to the house are Bolour Bathhouse (Stone Museum), Safa Bath, Omid School, Srdar Water Reservoir and Qazvin Museum.

Kharaqan Twin Towers

The Twin towers of Kharagan are two brick towers relating to the Seljuq era with 29-meter from each other, 1 km from the Hesar village, and these towers are located on the West Kharaqan rural district environs in the Avaj town of Qazvin. Girih tiles and geometrical bricked patterns of Seljuq era is at its climax. These towers indicate the high skills of their constructors and have turned it to one of the most spectacular buildings of the 5th century. The nearest tourist attraction to the towers is Qal'eh Kord Cave.

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