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, an ...
d as Ardakān and Artagan) is the capital city of
Ardakan County
Ardakan County ( fa, شهرستان اردکان) is located in Yazd province, Iran. The capital of the county is Ardakan. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 66,900, in 18,140 households. Retrieved 7 November 2022 At the 2016 census ...
,
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 Turkmeni ...
. 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
Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Wor ...
, and it has dry weather.
The word ''Ardakan'' in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
means "holy place" or "clean place" (
Modern Persian
New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...
: ''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 ...
: ''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
A takyeh ( fa, تکیه ''takye''; plural: ''takâyâ'') is a building where Shia Muslims gather to mourn Husayn's death in the month of Muharram. Such buildings are particularly found in Iran, where there are takyehs in almost every city. Teh ...
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
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 ...
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. It is also a famous type of carpet found around the world.
Districts
Districts include Zeyn Aldin, Koshkeno, Bazarno, and Janat Abad.
References
Further reading
*
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