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An eight-kilometer-long motorway links the airport to the outskirts of the town, eight uninterrupted kilometers of rose-garden, aptly announcing Shiraz, the "City of roses and poets".
Hafez' tomb is the closest to the town centre. Built in 1953 in a garden, the mausoleum is a small open pavilion; inside which is a marble tombstone with several of the poets' verses. One of the nicest tea-houses (chaikhaneh) in Shiraz can be found in the grounds, set around a rectangular pool. You can sit around on cushions sip a cup of tea, or rose water while reflecting on his poetry. Hafez spent most of his life in his native town and died there in 1389. He is considered the undisputed master of the ghazal, and his poems reflect a richness and a subtlety unequalled even by the other great talent, Saadi. Saadi's
tomb is in the north-east of Shiraz. Set in a pleasant garden, the
present tomb was built in 1952 and replaces an earlier much simpler
construction. Unlike Hafez, Saadi travelled extensively in Iraq and
Syeria, where he was even taken prisoner by the Crusaders. Upon His
return to Shiraz, Saadi wrote his most famous works, the Bustan (The
Orchard) and the Golestan (The Rose Garden), which are moral tales
written either in verse or in a mixture of prose and verse. Saadi is said
to have died in 1290 at the grand old age of 101.
Karim Khan laid out a landscape garden opposite the citadel, and one of its pavilions has been turned into a museum called Muzeh-ye Pars. This small octagonal building was once a reception hall, and then for a brief period it became Karim Khan's mausoleum. However, Agha Mohammed Khan (founder of the Qajar Dynasty) ordered the body to be removed.
Most of the gardens for which Shiraz was once famous are now long gone, but the town still has a number of parks and gardens, which are particularly pleasant to wander through in the summer. One of the most popular gardens is Bag-e Eram in the north-west of the town, which is famous for its cyprus trees. The 19th century Qajar palace lies in the middle of this garden, with its own reflecting pool. Shiraz, Naranjistan, 19th century. This very beautiful house and garden which originally belonged to the Ghavam family now been restored to become the home of the Asia Institute. A fine painted title frieze borders the roof, while the facade has a dado of carved stone slabs. The high central porch fronts a room lined with mirror mosaic, and the garden has been restored to an original design.
Several other religious edifices are worthy of interest. The Old Friday Mosque has in the middle of its courtyard, a building found in no other sanctuary: The Khoda Khane - "House of God" - a square building (which reportedly) imitates the Kaaba in Mecca and where the mosque's Korans are kept. |
Shiraz
is one of the most pleasant cities in Iran, with its relaxed, cultivated
and generous inhabitants, wide tree lined avenues, and a multitude of
monuments, gardens and mosques.
The
magnificent tombs of Saadi and Hafez, the two well known Iranian poets,
are located in Shiraz and are a major attraction for poem-lovers. 
Shiraz's
other key monuments are located on the south bank of the Khoshk River.
The imposing citadel of Karim Khan with its four circular towers
dominates the city centre. This well-preserved fortress was part of the
royal courtyard in the time of the Zand dynasty. Today, it houses the
municipal offices and is not open to visitors.
There
are also several mosques in Shiraz, including the Masjed-e Vakil
(Regent's Mosque), the Masjed-e Shohada (Martyr's Mosque) and the Masjed-e
Atigh (Old Friday Mosque)
The
populous quarters in the center of the city are busy trading areas. The
picturesque quality of the Iranian bazzar is enhanced here by the
presence of nomads or semi-nomad elements belonging to southern Iranian
tribes, including the Qashqais recognizable by the women's brightly
colored dresses. The open space of a large esplande to the south of the
bazzar gives one a chance to appreciate from a sufficient distance the
elegance or at least the originality of pear-shaped domes above a high
tambour covering two mosque mausoleums: The Shah Shiragh and Seyed Mir
Mohammad Imamzadehs. The facades of the two buildings are not shaped like
those of traditional ivans. It is a portico supported by light columns in
the style of houses in Shiraz.