Nasir ol Molk Mosque The Nasir ol Molk Mosque (Persian: Masjed e Nasir ol Molk), also known as the Pink Mosque, is a traditional mosque in Shiraz, Iran. It is located at the district of Gowad-e-Arabān, near Šāh Čerāq Mosque. The mosque includes extensive colored glass in its facade, and displays other traditional elements such […]
Geography obviously has a significant impact on the development of society and culture anywhere in the world, but its effect is particularly dramatic in a country like Iran. It severely limits where people can live, makes transportation and communications between different areas of the country difficult, and has greatly affected the kinds of lifestyles that […]
National Museum of Iran (Iran Bastan Museum) The National Museum of Iran (Persian: Muze ye Melli ye Irān) is located in Tehran, Iran, near Imam Square or Grand Bazaar. It is an institution formed of two complexes, including the Museum of Ancient Iran (Muze ye Irān e Bāstān) which was inaugurated in 1937, and […]
Although poetry still holds an important place in the creative literature of contemporary Iran, it has in recent years come to be rivaled in popularity and importance by prose fiction—the novel, the novella, and especially the short story. The rise of these genres represents a considerable innovation in the nature of Persian literature; it refl […]
A vast amount of Persian prose literature, in fields ranging from history to philosophy, was produced during the pre-modern period. This prose literature Literature 69 certainly has its value, and much of it is in print and read by Iranians today. However, it is fair to say that it is mostly of interest to specialists […]
Golestan Palace literally the Roseland Palace, is the former royal Qajar complex in Iran’s capital city, Tehran. The oldest of the historic monuments in Tehran, and of world heritage status, the Golestan Palace belongs to a group of royal buildings that were once enclosed within the mud-thatched walls of Tehran’s Historic Arg (citadel). Sa’dabad Palace […]
Naqsh-e Jahan Square Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Persian: Maidān-e Naqsh-e Jahān; trans: “Image of the World Square”), known as Imam Square, formerly known as Shah Square , is a square situated at the center of Isfahan city, Iran. Constructed between 1598 and 1629, it is now an important historical site, and one of UNESCO’s World Heritage […]
In some ways, the history of dance in Iran parallels the history of music, albeit in a much more restricted manner, especially in the case of recreational dance. In other words, in any period when music is forbidden, so is dance. If music is highly encouraged, then dance is more tolerated in society. This is […]
Dance in Iran represents a mixture of elements drawn from diverse sources, some similar to those in neighboring countries, some uniquely related to cultures and customs of people living within a specific region in Iran today, and some synthesizing both foreign and native influences. For instance, ethnic dances found among Iranian Kurds and Turkomans are […]
The latter part of Mohammad-Rezâ Shah’s reign had a disastrous impact on Persian classical music, one with significant political implications for the Pahlavi regime itself. With the shah’s fast pace of modernization and importation of everything Western, classical Persian music became a victim of Western and Western-style pop music. As Westernized pop music became dominant, […]
