Zoroastrian - Sonya and Travis

We decided to spend our second day in Yazd doing a day trip to surrounding towns – Meybod, Chak Chak and Kharanaq.

Meybod
Chak Chak
Kharanaq

Meybod

About forty minutes north of Yazd, Meybod was our first stop. Like Yazd, it is also a desert city and much of its buildings are made from mud-brick. We visited the Narin Qal’eh (Narin Castle), a mud-brick fort which incorporates mud-bricks from various periods from Sassanid, Achaemenid to Islamic. From the top, it provided us a view of the town of Meybod.

In Meybod we also visited an icehouse, very similar to the one we saw in Abarqu, an old post office and a once bustling caravanserai; a roadside inn where travellers could rest and recover from their day’s journey. The pigeon towers was our last stop in Meybod, a tower that once hosted 14,000 pigeons – inside it was quite impressive and unique.

Chak Chak

The village of Chak Chak was our next stop. It is known to be the most sacred of sites for Zoroastrians. Chak Chak is literally built on a mountain cliff in the middle of the desert. The name ‘Chak Chak’ is the Persian word for ‘drip drip’ due to the ever-dripping spring located at the mountain.

The main attraction is the Zoroastrian temple guarded by two bronze doors on top of the cliff. Inside is a fire which burns eternally. Each year thousands of Zoroastrians visit this temple from June fourteen to eighteen. Tradition requires that on approaching Chak Chak, when pilgrims see the temple, they must walk the remaining distance.

Kharanaq

Kharanaq is another town in the Yazd District which is believed to have been occupied for more than four-thousand years. This spot was a particular favourite of mine as there was barely anyone around and the whole ancient village made completely of mud-bricks (no longer occupied) made for a very eerie atmosphere. We were so impressed by just how extensive the old village was – and even got lost in the maze heading back towards the car. The site also consists of a Qajar era mosque and a shaking minaret.

At the end of our tour, our driver Ali took us back to Yazd where we had a late lunch and departed Yazd on a four-and-a-half hour bus to Esfahan.

Yazd is a city located roughly in the centre of Iran, surrounded by mostly deserts, producing hot dry summers. Due to this hot climate, Yadz is made up of distinctly Persian architecture, which includes Qanats (underground water systems), windcatchers (protruding vents from buildings to catch and circulate air), Yakhchals (ancient evaporative coolers) and Adobe (the building material which included straw providing insulation).

We stayed at the centre of Yazd’s Old City, so everything was walking distance. Some of the highlights and experiences included;

Amir Chakhmaq square – featuring a beautiful Takieh (used during the commemoration ceremonies of the death of Imam Hussein) a three tiered facade with double minarets, best experienced at sunset.

Nakhl – usually at the site of the Takieh and used in conjunction with the commemoration ceremonies, the large wooden structure is carried by men on the first day of the ceremony.

Jameh Mosque – Yazd’s Congregational Mosque (Grand Mosque), amazing blue mosaics and has the highest minarets in Iran, worth a visit at night when the minarets are alight.

Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin – a building housing the tomb of Sayyed Roknaddin Mohammed Qazi, a beautiful blue on beige mosaic dome, again must be seen at night when alight with blue.

Towers of Silence (Dakhma) – a Zoroastrian site where the dead were placed to allow vultures to eat the flesh, this prevented the decomposing body to pollute the environment.

Persian architecture – Yazd really does look like what one would imagine a Persian city to look like, the sandy coloured mud-brick walls, narrow alleys and bazaars, flat rooftops and abundant use of natural light.

Haj Khalifeh Ali Rahbar and Partners (a Yazd sweet shop) – recommended by Morteza as we passed it while driving into Yazd from Shiraz, we purchased an assortment box for 140,000 Riyals ($7.50 USD). I have never tasted anything more extraordinary, each sweet had a distinctly different use of spices and flavours and a different texture, they were amazing.