Visits to two delightful, small 17th-century Safavid palaces, their ornate decorations preserved to varying degrees, complete our visit to Esfahan and we fly back to Tehran on Sunday in time for one more dinner in a traditional restaurant with musicians. (The park and fountain setting and mirrored dome of the Eight Paradise palace are pictured.) [...]

We’ve had another wonderful day in the beautiful city of Esfahan. This being Friday the downtown streets were deserted but the parks along the river were full of families and young people out to enjoy the good weather. The acoustics under one stone bridge drew small groups of old men taking turns delivering heartfelt renditions [...]

As one person in our group said today, “I don’t care if I ever see another mosque; I know I’ve seen the most beautiful one.” You may have your own favorite, but Sheikh Lotfallah mosque is breathtaking. Its portal fronts Esfahan’s immense Imam Square while the dome chamber is set at an angle to shield [...]

A day trip out of Shiraz on Tuesday takes us to Firuzabad to visit the capitol of Ardashir, founder of the Sassanian Empire in 224 A.D. We stand on the remains of a wall encircling what was once a city two kilometers in diameter with a population of as much as 50,000. A watchtower, truncated [...]

Persepolis, breathtaking in its ruins, rises above you until you climb the massive stone stairway to arrive at the top of the rock terrace that holds the ceremonial capital built by Darius the Great and his son Xerxes, when Persia ruled 4/5 of the known civilized world for over 200 years. Each year this vast [...]