The beautiful Iran (fridge magnet)

Iran officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name Iran, which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans, has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia (Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political context.

The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195km (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million people. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven  natural gas reserve in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations. The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC. They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the  Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslims conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the apersian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.

The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization. Iranian identity continued despite foreign rule in the ensuing centuries and Persian culture was adopted also by the Ghaznavids, Seljuk, Ikhanid and Timurid rulers. The emergence in 1501 of the Safavid dynasty, which promoted Twelver Shia Islam as the official religion of their empire, marked one of the most important turning points in Iranian and Muslim history. The Persian Constitutional Revolution established the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy. Growing dissent with foreign influence culminated during the Irania Revolution which led to establishment of an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.

Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the  1979 constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader. Shia Islam is the official religion and Persian is the official language.

Ali Qapu is a grand palace in Isfahan, Iran. It is located on the western side of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square opposite to Sheikh lotf allah mosque and had been originally designed as a vast portal. It is forty-eight meters high and there are seven floors, each accessible by a difficult spiral staircase. In the sixth floor music room, deep circular niches are found in the walls, having not only aesthetic value, but also acoustic.

Arge Bam, Kerman before the earthquake

Arge Bam, Kerman after the earthquake

The Arg-e Bam was the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, city in the Kerman province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape". This enormous citadel on the Silk Road was built before 500 BC and remained in use until 1850 AD. It is not known for certain why it was then abandoned.

The entire building was a large fortress in whose heart the citadel itself was located, but because of the impressive look of the citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam Citadel.

On December 26, 2003, the Citadel was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and its environs. A few days after the earthquake, the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced that the Citadel would be rebuilt.

Faravahar is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of ancient Iran. This religious-cultural symbol was adapted by the Pahlavi dynasty to represent the Iranian nation.

The etymology of Faravahar is the Middle Persian root the Pahlavi script of Middle Persian did not represent short vowels), and the word is thus variously pronounced/written farohar, frohar, frawahr, fravahr and so forth, as there is no agreed upon method of transliterating the Middle Persian word into English. In Dekhoda's dictionary and the 17th century Persian dictionary Burhan Qati', it appears as فروهر "furuhar". The Encyclopedia Iranica renders it as frawahr (this reflects the Pazend dibacheh form, corresponding to Book Pahlavi.

The winged disc has a long history in the art and culture of the anciant Near and Middle east.  Historically, the symbol is influenced by the "winged sun" hieroglyph appearing on Bronze Age royal seals (Luwian SUUS, symbolizing royal power in particular). In Neo-Assyrian times, a human bust is added to the disk, the "feather-robed archer" interpreted as symbolizing Ashur

While the symbol is currently thought to represent a Fravashi (a guardian angel) and from which it derives its name, what it represented in the minds of those who adapted it from earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian reliefs is unclear. Because the symbol first appears on royal inscriptions, it is also thought to represent the 'Divine Royal Glory' (khvarenah), or the Fravashi of the king, or represented the divine mandate that was the foundation of a king's authority.

This relationship between the name of the symbol and the class of divine entities it represents, reflects the current belief that the symbol represents a Fravashi. However, there is no physical description of the Fravashis in the Avesta the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and in Avestan the entities are grammatically feminine.

In present-day Zoroastrianism, the faravahar is said to be a reminder of one's purpose in life, which is to live in such a way that the soul progresses towards frasho-kereti, or union with Ahura Mazda, the supreme divinity in Zoroastrianism. Although there are a number of interpretations of the individual elements of the symbol, none of them are older than the 20th century.

The Gate of all Nations, referring to subjects of the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was a square of approximately 25 meters (82 feet) in length, with four columns and its entrance on the Western Wall. There were two more doors, one to the south which opened to the Apadana yard and the other opened onto a long road to the east. Pivoting devices found on the inner corners of all the doors indicate that they were two-leafed doors, probably made of wood and covered with sheets of ornate metal.

A pair of Lamassus, bulls with the heads of bearded men, stand by the western threshold. Another pair, with wings and a Persian head (Gopät-Shäh), stands by the eastern entrance, to reflect the Empire’s power.

Xerxes's name was written in three languages and carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered it to be built.

Kashan, The Borujerdi House has become a famous landmark and sample of Persian traditional residential architecture.

Kashan is a city in and the capital of kashan County, in the province of Isfahan, Iran At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, in 67,464 families.

The etymology of the city name comes from Kasian, the original inhabitants of the city, whose remains are found at Tapeh Sialk dating back 9,000 years; later this changed to Kashian, whence the town name. Between the 12th and the 14th centuries Kashan was an important centre for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. In modern Persian, the word for a tile (kashi) comes from the name of the town.

Khaju Bridge is arguably the finest bridge in the province of Isfahan, Iran It was built by the Persian Safavid king, Shah Abbas II around 1650 C.E,  on the foundations of an older bridge. Serving as both a bridge, and a dam (or a weir), it links the Khaju quarter on the north bank with the Zoroastrian quarter across the  Zayandeh River. Although architecturally functioning as a bridge and a weir,  it also served a primary function as a building and a place for public meeting. This structure originally was ornated with artistic tile works and paintings serving as a tea house; In the center of the structure, a pavilion exists inside of which Shah Abbas would have once sat, admiring the viees. Today remnants of a stone seat is all that remains of the king's chair. This bridge highlights one of the finest examples of Persian architecture at the height of  Safavid cultural influence in Iran. In words of Upham Pope and Jean Chardin, Khaju bridge is "the culminating monument of Persian bridge architecture and one of the most interesting bridges extant...where the whole has rhythm and dignity and combines in the happiest consistency, utility, beauty, and recreation.

The Khaju Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in Isfahan, Iran and has roused the admiration of travelers since the 17th century. Shah Abbas II built it on the foundations of an older bridge around 1650. It has 23 arches and is 105 meters long and 14 meters wide. It links the Khaju quarter on the north bank with the Zoroastrian quarter across the Zayandeh River. It also functions as a weir; the downstream side is formed as a series of steps carrying the water to a much lower level.

Persepolis (Old Persian Pārsa, Takht-e Jamshid or Chehel Minar) was the ceremonial capital of the  Achaemenid Empire. Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid Jamshid). The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE. To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa, which means "The City of Persians". Persepolis is a transliteration of the Greek Πέρσης πόλις ( (Throne of Persēs polis: "Persian city").

UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Si-o-se Pol which means 33 Bridge or the Bridge of 33 Arches, also called the Allah-Verdi Khan Bridge, is one of the eleven bridges of Isfahan, Iran It is highly ranked as being one of the most famous examples of  Safavid bridge design.

Commissioned in 1602 by Shah Abbas I from his chancellor Allahverdi Khan Undiladze, an Iranian etnic Georgian, it consists of two rows of 33 arches. There is a larger base plank at the start of the bridge where the Zayandeh River flows under it, supporting a tea house.

And last but not least, us in Iran.

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