Northeastern Iran - Iran - page 521

( Click here ) that Tusi managed to calculate the earth's diameter and explain discrepancies
between Aristotle's and Ptolemy's theories of planetary movement.
The tower is in a field, 1km northwest of Qiasabad hamlet or 3km down an unsurfaced
road from Radkan village. Radkan village is itself surrounded by a quietly fascinating
scattering of old mud ruins, 9km north of the Quchan-Mashhad highway (it's possible to
hitchhike). The village taxi agency charges US$2 one way to the tower. Mashhad savaris
(US$1.50) are very frequent. If you offer US$6 dar baste, they'll make a side trip to Tus
en route, stopping for long enough to visit the Ferdosi Mausoleum.

NEISHABURروباشین
0551 / POP 231,000 / ELEV 1194M
An early capital of Khorasan, Neishabur (Nayshaboor) was first settled in the 3rd century
AD by the great Sassanian Shah Shapur I as one of his great fortified trading cities, and
the place grew fat and rich exploiting the thick veins of turquoise that wind throughout the
hills nearby. By the Seljuk period it was a thriving literary, artistic and academic centre,
notable as the birthplace of the 11th-century poet and all-round good egg, Omar Khayyam
(see the boxed text, Click here ) , but all came crashing down with the Mongol invasions;
the Mongol general leading the siege in 1221 was married to a daughter of Genghis Khan
himself and when her husband was killed by Neishabur's defenders she demanded the
total destruction of the city and the murder of all its inhabitants in bloody revenge; victims
of the Mongol queen's fury are still regularly uncovered by local farmers and construction
workers, their skeletons left to rot in the ruins of their once glorious city.

Sights

Omar Khayyam Tomb Complex
Neishabur's main attraction remains Khayyam ' s Tomb (admission US$1;
8am-9pm) . Its present form is a distinctive 1970s modernist affair with diamond-shaped
lozenges of calligraphic tiling (Khayyam's words, naturally) set in a curved, airy net of
criss-crossed marble. Don't be surprised to find random Iranians bombarding you with re-
citations of Khayyam's verses as you ponder the monument.
A big part of the tomb's attraction is its manicured garden setting, Bagh-e Mahrugh ,
with a gently appealing terrace on which to sip tea (US$1 per pot) with Neishabur's fam-
ous crystallised sugar while being serenaded by (caged) birds. Jewellery outlets compete
to sell you Neishabur's equally famous turquoise. In the gardens' free southern section,
the lovely Imamzadeh-ye Mohammed Mahrugh is a fine 16th-century domed mauso-
leum with an intricately tiled portal.

TOMB