The Sepah Street (

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 ...

: خیابان سپه), Also known as the Shohada Street (Persian: خیابان شهدا) is a street in

Qazvin Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...

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 ...

. It is the oldest planned street in Iran, built when Qazvin was the capital of Iran's

Safavid empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

. The street leads to the Safavid royal complex in Qazvin, and passes next to the

Jameh Mosque of Qazvin Jameh Mosque of Qazvin ( fa, مسجد جامع عتيق قزوین – ''Masjid-e-Jameh Atiq Qazvin'') is one of the oldest mosques in Iran, and is the grand, congregational mosque (jameh mosque) of Qazvin, in Qazvin Province, Iran. Specificati ...

and Imamzadeh Hossein.

Name

During the Qajar era the street was known as "Dowlati". The name Sepah was given to the street during the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the Persian language "Sepah" means "army". After the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

in 1979, the street was renamed to Shohada street, Shohada meaning "Martyrs", to commemorate the dead Iranian soldiers in the

Iran Iraq war 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 ...

, and to remove the association the previous name had to the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

History

Shah Tahmasp Safavid moved the capital from

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

to Qazvin in 1546, as Tabriz was vulnerable to Ottoman attacks. During this time many palaces and gardens were created, as was as the building of Imamzadeh Hossein, and the street was created to connect these places. It is the oldest planned street in Iran.{{Cite web, title=تاريخچه معابر شهر قزوين - پورتال شهرداری قزوین, url=https://traffic.qazvin.ir/58, access-date=2021-11-07, website=traffic.qazvin.ir = Gallery = File:Sepah Street-Ghazvin (1).jpg, Tile on the gate to the Safavid royal complex, reading "Sepah Street" File:Sepah Street-Ghazvin (3).jpg, Sepah street File:Sepah street-2.jpg, Entrance to the Jameh mosque of Qazvin as seen from the Sepah street

References

Streets in Iran Qazvin