Shiraz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the city in Iran. For the grape and modern-day wine, see Syrah. For the wine
once produced in the Iranian city of Shiraz, see Shirazi wine.
For other uses, see Shiraz (disambiguation).

Shiraz

Clockwise from top: Karim Khan Citadel, Tomb of Hafez, Shah Cheragh shrine, Nasir
ol Molk Mosque, Eram Garden, Vakil Bath, and Tomb of Saadi.

Seal
 Nickname(s): Cultural Capital of Iran
City of poets
City of gardens
City of flowers and nightingale

Shiraz

Location of Shiraz in Iran

Coordinates: 2937N 5232ECoordinates: 2937N 5232E

Country Iran
Province Fars
County Shiraz
Bakhsh Central

Government
Type City Council
Mayor Alireza Pakfetrat[1]
Mayor-elect Abdulhamid Moafian

Area[citation needed]
Total 240 km2 (86.487 sq mi)
Land 240 km2 (86.487 sq mi)
Water 0 km2 (0 sq mi) 0%

Elevation 1,500 m (5,200 ft)

Population (2016 census)

Total 1,869,001
Density 6,670/km2(18,600/sq mi)
Population Rank in Iran 5th
 Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30)

Area code(s) 071

Routes
Road 65

Road 67

Road 86
Future
Shiraz-Isfahan Freeway

Website www.shiraz.ir

Shiraz (/ i rz/ ( listen); Persian: , rz, Persian pronunciation: [ i r z], pronunciation (helpinfo))
is the sixth-most-populous city of Iran[2] and the capital of Fars Province (Old Persian as Prs). At
the 2011 census, the population of the city was 1,700,665 and its built-up area with "Shahr-e Jadid-e
Sadra" (Sadra New Town) was home to 1,500,644 inhabitants.[3] Shiraz is located in the southwest of
Iran on the "Roodkhaneye Khoshk" (The Dry River) seasonal river. It has a moderate climate and
has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years. Shiraz is one of the oldest cities of
ancient Persia.
The earliest reference to the city, as Tirazi, is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC.[4] In the
13th century, Shiraz became a leading center of the arts and letters, due to the encouragement of its
ruler and the presence of many Persian scholars and artists. It was the capital of Persia during
the Zand dynasty from 1750 until 1800. Two famous poets of Iran, Hafez and Saadi, are from Shiraz,
whose tombs are on the north side of the current city boundaries.
Shiraz is known as the city of poets, literature, wine and flowers.[5][6] It is also considered by many
Iranians to be the city of gardens, due to the many gardens and fruit trees that can be seen in the
city, for example Eram Garden. Shiraz has had major Jewish and Christian communities. The crafts
of Shiraz consist of inlaid mosaic work of triangular design; silver-ware; pile carpet-weaving and
weaving of kilim, called gilim and jajim in the villages and among the tribes.[7] In Shiraz industries
such as cement production, sugar, fertilizers, textile products, wood products, metalwork and rugs
dominate.[8] Shirz also has a major oil refinery and is also a major center for Iran's electronic
industries: 53% of Iran's electronic investment has been centered in Shiraz.[9] Shiraz is home to
Iran's first solar power plant.[10] Recently the city's first wind turbine has been installed above
Babakoohi mountain near the city.

Contents
[hide]

1Etymology
2History
o 2.1Pre-Islamic
o 2.2Islamic period
o 2.3Modern times
3Geography
o 3.1Gardens and Clean Shiraz
4Climate
5Economy
 6Demography
7Culture
8Tourism
o 8.1Tourist attractions in Shiraz
o 8.2Tourist Attractions near Shiraz
9Neighborhoods of Shiraz
10Higher education
11Transportation
o 11.1Airports
o 11.2Metro
o 11.3Bus
o 11.4Rail
o 11.5Roads
o 11.6Private transportation
12Sports
13Famous people
o 13.1Rulers and political figures
o 13.2Religious figures, philosophers and theologians
o 13.3Academics and scientists
o 13.4Poets and writers
o 13.5Other artists
o 13.6Others
14Twin towns sister cities
15Panoramic view
16See also
17References
18External links

Etymology[edit]
Shiraz, Iran is pictured in this photo taken byCol. Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency from the
International Space Station. Taken on March 20, 2013 (1392 Nowrooz).

The earliest reference to the city is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BCE, found in June 1970,
while digging to make a kiln for a brick factory in the south western corner of the city. The tablets
written in ancient Elamite name a city called Tirazi.[11] Phonetically, this is interpreted as /tirais/ or
/irais/. This name became Old Persian /irji/; through regular sound change comes the modern
Persian name Shirz. The name Shiraz also appears on clay sealings found at a 2nd-century
CE Sassanid ruin, east of the city. By some of the native writers, the name Shiraz has derived from a
son of Tahmuras, the third Shh (King) of the world according to Ferdowsi's Shhnma.[12]

History[edit]
Main articles: History of Shiraz and Timeline of Shiraz
Pre-Islamic[edit]
Shiraz is most likely more than 4,000 years old. The name Shiraz is mentioned in cuneiform
inscriptions from around 2000 BC found in southwestern corner of the city.[13] According to
some Iranian mythological traditions, it was originally erected by Tahmuras Diveband, and afterward
fell to ruin.[12] The oldest sample of wine in the world, dating to approximately 7,000 years ago, was
discovered on clay jars recovered outside of Shiraz (according to the referenced article, this
discovery was made in Hajji Firuz Tepe, a Neolithic village in Iran's northern Zagros Mountains,
more than a thousand kilometers north of Shiraz).[14]
In the Achaemenian era, Shiraz was on the way from Susa to Persepolis and Pasargadae.
In Ferdowsi's Shhnma it has been said that Artabanus V, the Parthian Emperor of Iran, expanded
his control over Shiraz. Ghasre Abu-Nasr (meaning "the palace of AbuNasr") which is originally
from Parthian era is situated in this area. During the Sassanid era, Shiraz was in between the way
which was connecting Bishapur and Gur to Istakhr. Shiraz was an important regional center under
the Sassanians.[13]
Islamic period[edit]
The city became a provincial capital in 693, after Arab invaders conquered Istakhr, the
nearby Sassanian capital. As Istakhr fell into decline, Shiraz grew in importance under the Arabs and
several local dynasties.[15] The Buwayhid empire (9451055) made it their capital, building mosques,
palaces, a library and an extended city wall. It was also ruled by the Seljuks and
the Khwarezmians before the Mongol conquest.
The city was spared destruction by the invading Mongols, when its local ruler offered tributes and
submission to Genghis Khan. Shiraz was again spared by Tamerlane, when in 1382 the local
monarch, Shah Shoja agreed to submit to the invader.[15] In the 13th century, Shiraz became a
leading center of the arts and letters, thanks to the encouragement of its ruler and the presence of
many Persian scholars and artists. For this reason the city was named by classical geographers Dar
al-Elm, the House of Knowledge.[16] Among the Iranian poets, mystics and philosophers born in
Shiraz were the poets Sa'di[17] and Hafiz,[18] the mystic Roozbehan, and the philosopher Mulla
Sadra.[19] Thus Shiraz has been nicknamed "The Athens of Iran".[20] As early as the 11th century,
several hundred thousand people inhabited Shiraz.[21] In the 14th century Shiraz had sixty thousand
inhabitants.[22] During the 16th century it had a population of 200,000 people, which by the mid-18th
century had decreased to only 55,000.
In 1504, Shiraz was captured by the forces of Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty.
Throughout the Safavid empire (15011722) Shiraz remained a provincial capital and Emam Qoli
Khan, the governor of Fars under Shah Abbas I, constructed many palaces and ornate buildings in
the same style as those built during the same period in Isfahan, the capital of the Empire.[15] After the
fall of the Safavids, Shiraz suffered a period of decline, worsened by the raids of the Afghans and
the rebellion of its governor against Nader Shah; the latter sent troops to suppress the revolt. The
city was besieged for many months and eventually sacked. At the time of Nader Shah's murder in
1747, most of the historical buildings of the city were damaged or ruined, and its population fell to
50,000, one-quarter of that during the 16th century.[15]
Shiraz soon returned to prosperity under the rule of Karim Khan Zand, who made it his capital in
1762. Employing more than 12,000 workers, he constructed a royal district with a fortress, many
administrative buildings, a mosque and one of the finest covered bazaars in Iran.[15] He had a moat
built around the city, constructed an irrigation and drainage system, and rebuilt the city
walls.[15] However, Karim Khan's heirs failed to secure his gains. When Agha Mohammad Khan, the
founder of the Qajar dynasty, eventually came to power, he wreaked his revenge on Shiraz by
destroying the city's fortifications and moving the national capital to Tehran.[15] Although lowered to
the rank of a provincial capital, Shiraz maintained a level of prosperity as a result of the continuing
importance of the trade route to the Persian Gulf. Its governorship was a royal prerogative
throughout the Qajar dynasty.[15] Many of the famous gardens, buildings and residences built during
this time contribute to the city's present skyline.
Shiraz is the birthplace of the co-founder of the Bah' Faith, the Bb (Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad, 1819
1850). In this city, on the evening of 22 May 1844, he first declared his mission as the bearer of a
new divine revelation.[23] For this reason Shiraz is a holy city for Bahs, and the city, particularly the
house of the Bb, was identified as a place of pilgrimage.[24] Due to the hostile climate towards
Baha'is in Iran, the house has been the target of repeated attacks; the house was destroyed in 1979,
to be paved over two years later and made into a public square.[24]
In 1910, a pogrom of the Jewish quarter started after false rumours that the Jews had ritually killed a
Muslim girl. In the course of the violent riots, 12 Jews were killed and about 50 were injured, and
6,000 Jews of Shiraz were robbed of all their possessions.[25]
The city's role in trade greatly diminished with the opening of the trans-Iranian railway in the 1930s,
as trade routes shifted to the ports in Khuzestan. Much of the architectural inheritance of Shiraz, and
especially the royal district of the Zands, was either neglected or destroyed as a result of
irresponsible town planning under the Pahlavi dynasty.
Lacking any great industrial, religious or strategic importance, Shiraz became an administrative
center, although its population has nevertheless grown considerably since the 1979 revolution.[26]