Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
The savari stop for Kermanshah and for Sahneh (and thence Hamadan) is a 10-minute
walk east through Bisotun town, just beyond Bank Keshvari.
Hamadanنادمه
0811 / POP 528,000 / ELEV 1790M
Known in classical times as Ecbatana, Hamadan was once one of the ancient world's
greatest cities. Pitifully little of antiquity remains, but significant parts of the city centre
are given over to excavations and there is a scattering of historical curiosities. Sitting on a
high plain, Hamadan is graciously cool in August, but snow-prone and freezing cold from
December to March. In the summer the air is often hazy, but on a rare, clear spring day
there are impressive glimpses of snow-capped
Mt Alvand
(3580m) preening itself above
the ragged neocolonial cupolas of Imam Khomeini Sq. A popular summer retreat, Ha-
madan's main draw card for Iranian visitors is its proximity to the Ali Sadr Caves, but
these are vastly over-rated.
History
According to ancient Greek historians, Median king Deiokes fortified a palace here in 728
BC, and over succeeding decades the Median capital of Ecbatana grew into an opulent
city. Its massive walls were said to have had seven layers, the inner two coated in gold and
silver, the outer one as long as that of classical Athens. By 550 BC it had fallen to the
Achaemenid Persians, and King Cyrus was using it for his summer court.
The Medes retook the city in 521 BC but were kicked out again within six months by
Darius who was so pleased with himself that he recorded his achievements in stone beside
the Royal Road at Bisotun (
Click here
)
.
After centuries of pre-eminence and wealth under Parthian and Sassanian dynasties
alike, Ecbatana/Hamadan faded somewhat after the Arab conquest in the mid-7th century
AD, but it became the regional capital under the Seljuks for some 60 years in the late 12th
century. Known as Hegmataneh (Meeting Place of Sufis) in Old Persian, Hamadan
suffered the usual devastations by Mongols (1220) and again in 1386 (by Tamerlane), but
only hit a major decline in the 18th century following a Turkish invasion.
The city began to recover in the mid-19th century and was totally redesigned to a mod-
ern city plan in 1929 by German engineer Karl Frisch; Frisch's master plan is a cartwheel
design with six avenues radiating from Imam Khomeini Sq, widely referred to simply as
