Ardakan ( fa, اردكان, also

romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Ardakān and Artagan) is the capital city of Ardakan County, Yazd Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. At the 2016 census, its population was 75,271 in 22,475 families. Ardakan is the second major city of Yazd Province. It was established in the 12th century in the Zardug region. Ardakan is 60 kilometres away from Yazd, and it has dry weather. The word ''Ardakan'' in Persian means "holy place" or "clean place" ( Modern Persian: ''arda+kan'' /

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

: ''arta+gan'') and the city has many historical religious attractions such as the Grand Mosque of Ardakan (Masjed-e Jame’), Zire-deh Mosque, Emam-Zadeh Mir Seyyed Mohammad and Tekyeh bazaar. This region is one of the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

centres of Iran, and there are numerous holy sites for

s in Sharif-Abad, a village near Ardakan. Each summer thousands of Zoroastrians from around the world gather there for pilgrimage. The most important

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

is Pir-e Sabz Chak Chak. Other shrines include Pir Shah Eshtad Izad, Pir Shah Tashtar Izad, Pir Shah Mehr Izad and Pir Shah Morad. Ardakan is the birthplace of former Iranian president,

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 t ...

. It is also a famous type of carpet found around the world. Ardakan old city 2

Districts

Districts include Zeyn Aldin, Koshkeno, Bazarno, and Janat Abad.

References

External links

* Farshid Sāmāni
''Ardakān, In a Thoughtful Mood'' (''Ardakān, Sar dar Garibān'')
in Persian, Jadid Online, 16 April 2010.

(5 min 31 sec) {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2013 Populated places in Ardakan County Cities in Yazd Province Populated places established in the 12th century Mohammad Khatami

Districts

References

Further reading

External links