Isfahan

Isfahan is a historic city in Iran, famed for its grand squares, blue-tiled mosques, and magnificent stone bridges.

Isfahan is a historic jewel in central Iran, renowned for its architectural splendor and celebrated as 'Half the World'. Flourishing under the Seljuks and later as the Safavid imperial capital, it is famed for the grand Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the Shah Mosque, and the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, where scholars like Ibn Sina spent years writing and teaching.

A premier historic metropolis of central Iran along the Zayandeh River and the Zagros plateau, ideally situated along major trans-Eurasian trade routes. Ascending to prominence under the Great Seljuks in the 5th century AH through vizier Nizam al-Mulk and Sultan Malikshah, it hosted scholars such as Ibn Sina during his later productive years. Isfahan achieved legendary urban brilliance under Safavid Shah Abbas I, who made it his capital in 1006 AH (1598 CE), constructing the magnificent Naqsh-e Jahan complex with the Shah Mosque, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Ali Qapu Palace, and the monumental bridges crossing the Zayandeh.