Ardestan ( fa, اردستان, 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 Ardestān and Ardistān) is a city and capital of

Ardestan County Ardestan County ( fa, شهرستان اردستان) is in Isfahan province, Iran. The capital of the county is the city of Ardestan Ardestan ( fa, اردستان, also Romanized as Ardestān and Ardistān) is a city and capital of Ardestan ...

, Isfahan 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 2006 census, its population was 14,698, in 4,077 families. Ardestan is located at the southern foothills of the

Karkas mountain chain The Karkas mountain chain ( Persian رشته كوه كركس ''Reshteh kuh-e Karkas'') is a mountain range which is located almost in central Iran. Having a northwest-southeast direction, it is stretched from Kashan to Ardestan for more than 100 ...

and is 110 km northeast of Isfahan. It is believed the city has been founded in

Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

times and was strongly fortified in the 10th century. A

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

-era

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, a bazaar, several

ab anbar An ''ab anbar'' ( fa, آب‌انبار, literally "Cistern") is a traditional reservoir or cistern of drinking water in Greater Iran in antiquity. Structure To withstand the pressure the water exerts on the containers of the storage tank, ...

s, and historical houses of the old town are among the tourist attractions of Ardestan. Mulberry,

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

and a special kind of

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

are the main orchard products of the town. It has been said that the birthplace of

Hassan Modarres Seyyed Hassan Modarres ( fa, سید حسن مدرس c. 1870 Sarabeh, 1 December 1937, Kashmar) was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a cleric and a notable supporter of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. He was among the founding members, along with Abdo ...

Historical sites

* Imamzadeh Husayn: This

imamzadeh An imamzadeh () is a Persian term with two related meanings: a type of holy person in Shia Islam, and the shrine-tomb of such a person. Firstly, it means an immediate descendant of a Shi'i Imam. The term is also used in Urdu and Azeri. Imamzad ...

possibly made part of a Seljuk madrasah. Only little of this structure remains today. A badly damaged portal with the remains of a minaret (originally two) can still be found. * Imamzadeh Ismael *

Jameh Mosque of Ardestan The Jāmeh Mosque of Ardestan ( fa, مسجد جامع اردستان – ''Masjid-e-Jāmeh Ardestan'') is a congregational mosque (Jāmeh) in Ardestan, in the province of Isfahan, Iran. It ranks as No. 180 in the Inventory of National Artefacts o ...

: The oldest parts indicate a pre-Seljuk building, and it is possible the mosque was built on the site of a chahar taq. The structure was incorporated in a Seljuk

kiosk mosque Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist in an ...

in the 12th century, and further expanded to the classical

four-iwan plan An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projectin ...

. The stucco decoration of the mihrab was altered during the Il-Khanid period.

Climate

Ardestan has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(Köppen: BWh).

Historical places

file:مسجد خسرو اردستان.jpg , file:ورودی قنات دو طبقه مون در شهر اردستان- عکس از امیررضا توسلی.jpg,

References

* Matheson, Sylvia A. (1972). ''Persia: An Archaeological Guide''. London: Faber and Faber Limited.
yektamob

External links

* Photographs of Ardestan: :— ''Masjed-e Jāme'eh Ardestān''
(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)

(9)(10)(11)
{{Ardestan County Populated places in Ardestan County Cities in Isfahan Province