Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Around Kashan
Several villages can be visited on day trips from Kashan. The most interesting is Abyan-
eh, though if you want to get off the track,
Niasar
(at 1710m above sea level) is also
worth a visit. Its sights include a well-preserved Sassanian-era fire temple, a Parthian-era
cave built as a Mithraist temple and a waterfall. Other popular half-day trips from town
include
Qamsar
, famous for its rose fields that bloom during April, and the underground
city of
Nushabad
, 8km north of Kashan, which was used as a shelter during the Mongol
invasion in Iran in the 13th century and remained in use as emergency shelter until the
1920s.
ABYANEHهنایبا
0362 / POP - A FEW OLD LADIES / ELEV 2235M
Serenely situated at the foot of Mt Karkas (3899m), the ancient village of Abyaneh is a
warren of steep, twisting lanes and crumbling red mud-brick houses with lattice windows
and fragile wooden balconies. It's testament to both the age and isolation of Abyaneh that
the elderly residents speak Middle Persian, an earlier incarnation of Farsi that largely dis-
appeared some centuries ago.
The village is at least 1500 years old and faces east across a picturesque valley. It was
built this way to maximise the sun it receives and minimise the effects of howling gales in
winter. And if you come here in winter you'll understand why - it's freezing! In summer,
however, it's refreshingly cool and Abyaneh is most lively, filled with residents returning
from winter in Tehran and tourists haggling with colourfully clad, toothless old women
over the price of dried apples.
Abyaneh is best appreciated by just wandering, but do look for the 14th-century
Imamzadeh-ye Yahya
with its conical, blue-tiled roof, and the
Zeyaratgah shrine
with
its pool and views.
Looming over the village, the modern, multistorey
Abyaneh Hotel
( 436 2223;
www.hotelabyaneh.com
,
in Farsi; s/d/tr US$46/81/101; )
offers clean and comfort-
able rooms, some of which have panoramic views. The family who runs it are friendly and
the huge
restaurant
( noon-4pm & 8-10pm; meals US$7)
serves excellent food; we re-
commend both the
chelo fesenjun
(chicken cooked in a pomegranate and walnut sauce and
served with rice) and the local trout.
The newly built
Viuna Hotel
( 436 2820-23;
http://viunahotel.ir
;
dm US$17)
com-
plex off the road to the village isn't as comfortable or convenient as the Abyaneh, but it
