Tag Archives: North Khorasan Province

Photo Series: Spring in Iran – North Khorasan Province

North Khorasan Province, located in northeastern Iran with Bojnord as its capital, is one of the most multicultural territories in the country: Kurdish speakers make a 46.1% of the population, followed by Persian speakers (27.8%), Khorasani Turks (20.6%), Turkmens (3.3%) and other Iranians (2.2%).

Early spring days across North Khorasan Province – Photo credit: BORNA News Agency

Photos: Early spring days across North Khorasan Province (Borna)

Sources: Wikipedia | North Khorasan, Borna News Agency

Rice fields in Iran (Photos)

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Iran is a vast country, covering 1,648,000 km2 (164.8 million ha). Its topography is dominated by two mountain ranges – Alborz and Zagros – while two great deserts extend over much of the central region, leaving about 20 million ha for crop production. On account of the highly diverse climatic and soil conditions, only 12.5 million ha are cultivated annually with a wide range of food crops. Wheat, rice and barley are the most important cereals cultivated.

Rice is the staple food in Iran, with the quality of cooked rice outweighing all other considerations for Iranian consumers. The total area under rice is more than 600 thousand ha and rice is now grown in varying degrees in nearly all provinces of Iran. However, more than 80 percent of rice area is distributed in the two northern provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan.

Rice fields in Kamfiruz District – Fars Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Erfan Samanfar for Tasnim News)

Rice fields in Gilan Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Ali Asadollahi Sooteh for Tasnim News)

Rice fields in Gilan Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Alireza Younesi for ISNA)

Rice fields in Astara – Gilan Province, Iran – (Photo credit: IRNA)

Rice fields in Bibalan – Gilan Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Mohsen Bazrafshan for Mehr News Agency)

Rice fields in Yasuj – Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Davood Izad Panah for Tasnim News)

Rice fields in Mazandaran Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Mohsen Rezapour for Tasnim News)

Rice fields in Alamut region – Qazvin Province, Iran – (Photo credit: Mehdi Motamed for ISNA)

Iran’s rice production in 2011 was 2.4 million tons, which increased from a total of 2.3 million tons in the previous year. Iran has 3,800 rice milling units (2009). Iran has imported about 1.4 million tons of rice from UAE, Pakistan and Uruguay worth $800 million in 2009. Iran’s rice imports drop by 40% in 2010. The average per capita consumption of rice in Iran is 45.5 kg, which makes Iranians the 13th biggest rice consumers.

The photos were taken in different Iranian provinces: Qazvin, Gilan, Kurdistan, North Khorasan, Fars and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Iran’s North Khorasan Province: Hamid waterfall

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Hamid Waterfall is located near Hamid village. A village in Baba Aman Rural District, Bojnord County, North Khorasan Province. The waterfall’s height is 25 meters and the stream has many small ponds.

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Sources: Tishineh.com | Hamid Waterfall, Wikipedia | Hamid, Mehr News Agency | Photos

Iran’s North Khorasan Province: Aspakhu Fire Temple

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North Khorasan, Iran – Aspakhu Map The Aspakhu (Espakhou) Fire Temple is one of the oldest structures in Iran’s North Khorasan Province. According to studies and excavations it belongs to the Sassanid era (AD 224 to AD 651).

It is located by the village of Aspakhu (also romanized as Espakhou, Aspakhv), 65 kilometers west of Ashkhaneh, in Maneh and Samalqan County, North Khorasan Province, Iran.

The temple is built on top of a high hill next to a forest of pines and cedar trees. Beyond its entrance into a rectangular yard, a corridor leads to a domed room in the eastern part of the structure. The Fire Temple has a domed roof and consists of stones and mortar, further strengthening the assumption of its Sassanid origins. It is believed that the Fire Temple gets its name from the word Hasb which gradually evolved into Asb (meaning horse). The area and village in particular appeared to have been a training ground for horses.

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Photos by Ehsan Kamaly for Mehr News Agency.

Locals refer to the Fire Temple as a church although there has been next to no evidence of any past Christian residents. Furthermore the domed roof, its scattered slits (presumably to allow smoke to escape), and its round altar give the Fire Temple theory more credibility.

A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire, together with clean water, are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white “ash for the purification ceremonies [is] regarded as the basis of ritual life,” which, “are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple [fire] is that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity” (Boyce, 1975:455).

In 2010-2011 studies were being made to research the feasibility of renovations to the Fire Temple. The Espakhoo Fire Temple has been registered as a national heritage site, with the number 1579, by Iran’s Cultural Heritage Department.

A beautiful photo of Aspakhu Fire Temple at night by Abbas Rastegar: National Geographic | Your Shot | Aspakhv fire

Sources: Mehr News Agency | Aspakhv Fire, Payvand News of Iran, Historical Iranian Sites and People | Espakhoo Fire Temple, Wikipedia | Aspakhu

Photo Series: Spring in Iran – Bojnourd, North Khorasan Province

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Iran, Bojnord Map Bojnord (Bojnourd) is the capital of the northeastern Iranian province of North Khorasan on the border with Turkmenistan. Located 1070m above sea level, north of the Alborz mountain range and south of the Koppeh Dagh (Kopetdag) mountains, it is about 750km away from Tehran.

The city is quite famous for its multicultural background. Many people speak at least 2 different languages including Persian, Tati, Khorasani Turkic, Kurmanci Kurdish, and Turkmen. Intermarriage between said ethnic groups is common.

The city contains many historical and natural attractions, such as mineral water springs, small lakes, recreational areas, caves and protected regions, and various hiking areas. Most of the historical relics are from the Qajar era, as earthquakes continue to ravage older relics.

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Some of the popular attractions of Bojnurd are:
– Besh Qardash (five brothers) mineral spring
– Baba Aman Spring and Jungle Park
– Mufakham mirror house, built during the Qajar era
– Mufakham Historical Hospital, built during the Qajar era
– Mausoleum of Sultan Seyed Abbas (brother of Imam Reza)
– Bazkhaneh valley
– Ayyub mineral spring
– Ruwin village

Sources: Wikipedia | Bojnord, Mehr News Agency | Photos,

Iran’s North Khorasan Province: Bojnourd – Besh Qardash (Five Brothers) mineral spring

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Besh Qardash (or Besh Ghardash) (Persian: بش قارداش) is a monument and mineral spring in Bojnord, northeastern Iran. The place is an entertainment and historical tourism attraction and labeled as a national heritage by Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.

The Besh Qardash is 7km away from the city of Bojnord. The place is close to the villages of Qeri Janlu, Mehnan and Asadli.

The term “Besh Qardash” means “Five Brothers” in the regional Khorasani Turkic language. It refers to the mythic history of the place. According to the myth, there had been five brothers fighting against then-brutal-government and when they harbored to a hillside, they disappeared and five water springs started welling.

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During the Qajar era, Naser al-Din Shah passed the place in his state visit and ordered Yar Mohammad Khan Shadlou (also known as Sardar Mufakham) to construct a monument right next to the springs. A crown shaped swimming pool was built afterwards.

Other articles about North Khorasan Province: The other Iran | North Khorasan

Sources: Wikipedia | Besh Qardash, Tishineh | Besh Qardash Park

Iran’s North Khorasan Province: Bojnourd – Mofakham Mirror House and Building

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The Mofakham Mirror House (Persian: Ayeneh Khaneh Mofakham) in Bojnourd, the capital of North Khorasan Province on the border with Turkmenistan, served as official residence. In 1975 the Mirror House was included in the list of National Monuments of Iran.

The building, completed mid-1870s, is an oblong-shaped two-story construction consisting of nine chambers. Famous for its mirrorwork used for interior decoration as well as its rich tile design, belonged to Sardar Mofakham, a senior official of the late Qajar period.

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“The House of Mirrors Mofakham” is one of the architectural jewels of the Nasser-e-Din Shah Qajar era. In the past it was located in the middle of a large orchard at a close distance to other buildings as the Hozkhaneh, “The Garden of fountains”, and the Kolah Farangi Building. Together they constituted the “Dar-ol-Hokumeh” (House of power).

The Kolah Farangi Building collapsed following the earthquake that shook the city of Bojnourd but Mafkham Mirror House and Building remained to this day.

The Mafkham Building was constructed as Sardar’s Mofakham residence. It maintains thirty-four chambers and two large halls. The façade is covered with tile works, depicting humans, animals, and geometrical shapes. The building is fully covered with tiles in different shapes and forms in blue, yellow, pink, purple, white, red, and black colors, while each pillar has been decorated with particular patterns and designs.

The building now houses the Museum of Ethnography Bojnord (Mofakham Museum). The video below is a visit of Press.TV to the Mofakham Museum:

Sources: Tishineh, Iran Daily, Wikimedia Commons | Bojnord, Wikipedia | Spiegelhaus Mofakham, La Revue de Téhéran | N°12/2006, irib.ir

Photo series: Winter in Iran – Snow sliding in Mahnan near Bojnord

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North Khorasan, Iran – Mahnan (Mehnan) Map Mehnan (also Mahnan and in Persian: مهنان‎) is a village in Aladagh Rural District, in the Central District of Bojnord County, North Khorasan Province, Iran. Its populations (2006) was 1.341 inhabitants.