Inside Iran: Tabriz, Carpets and Kandovan stone houses.

Journal entry 22/10/2011
Today finds us in Tabriz Northern Iran after riding a bus from the border. (There were some really difficult blokes on the bus being childish and it made our journey very unpleasant). 

Short distance Meredes Benz buses.

However we arrived at the Central Bus Station and after a short easy taxi ride we checked into our Hotel Morvarid in Central Tabriz.

Hotel Moravid Tabriz

Tabriz is situated in the North Western border area of Iran. It has a long history of Kings and Conquerors dating from the 3rd century BC. However it also has a long history of earthquakes needless to say most of the ancient wonders are gone to rubble. The most striking thing about Tabriz is its people. Situated in East Azerbijan province the people are mainly Azerbijan people with some Armenian and Turks in the mix. We found the people to be friendly and helpful. The city is modern, filled with mens' wear shops and not a sign of women's fashion. No shoes, no hairdressers, no handbags. Just amazing. Only mens wear shoes and stuff. Sorry ladies we did look real hard as Citt wanted a haircut after Norway and Germany. But hey, she has on a scarf. So no problem she said........

On the way to the markets. Chador clad ladies.

Tabriz has a mixed history being founded in antiquity. It can claim to be the hub of the old Silk Road in Persia.  Roads lead to Baghdad, Aleppo, Damascus, Babylon, Byblos, Beirut, Cairo, south to Esfahan and the Gulf ports to Arabia. To the North West lie the Med Ports of Antalya and Antachya. 
Today Tabriz is an industrial city. The road still leads to Turkey and the markets of Europe. Embargos are in place. (I counted at least 350 articulated lorries stacked up on both sides of the border). But they all get through somehow. 
The industry around Tabriz consists of Automotive, Cement Plants and Industrial Factories turning out all sorts of things. The city is pleasant with wide one-way streets. The traffic is very very fast when it is not in a log jam.
The buildings are three story limit. I guess because of the earth shaking.


In the centre of Tabriz is the famous World Heritage listed Tabriz Bazaar. It is the largest covered bazaar in the world and it is the longest. Aleppo Bazaar in Syria is larger by size m2. (Pam, Kellie and I visited in 1974). These places make Westfield look pale, but it is interesting the layout in Westfield centers follow the same, central walkways and specialized areas. Two levels is some areas, housing smaller specialized tenants and showrooms. 
But I am getting ahead of myself again as always.


We wanted to visit the carpet markets within the bazaar. Citt and I have an interest in carpets and we thought you might like to take a look with us? But first a bit about carpets before we go in. 

A very different carpet (Image Citt Williams)

Carpets are unique. They are not just stuff! In the West we tend to lump them as Persian carpets but this is not correct as carpets come from all over the East. Turkey, The Stans, The Caucuses, China, India and Pakistan. 
The Tabriz Bazaar was and still is the most important market for the sale and distribution of carpets. (Tehran we were told was bigger but did not specialize in quality rare carpets). 


Where do they come from? 
Each carpet has a story! 
The story is in the pattern. It can be the story of the family, the village, the tribe. Some patterns stretch back centuries. (The families are very bitter as Chinese factories are copying the patterns and manufacturing carpet copies in large factories without permission.) The dealers can tell you where the carpet came from and just about who made it. The number of knots, the lay of the carpet, the fibre all make for the true value of a carpet. A carpet can be made out of wool, camel hair, cotton, silk or a mixture. The dyes used in the carpets are at best natural vegetable and plant dyes. Some rugs can take up to 5 years to complete. 
The family manufacturing a carpet is by no means guaranteed a good price for the carpets as in this area borders tend to change without warning. There are stories of false walls in houses to hide the rugs in time of trouble.  A rug maker is highly skilled and take on apprentices in the art. The rug makers specialize in the making of, or repair and remake of, damaged rugs. The value of a carpet is complicated taking into account the number of knots, the color, the size, the materials used and the quality of the workmanship, last but not least the rarity of the pattern. 

Mozaffarieh alley (fine carpets) Tabriz Bazaar

We found the rug sellers to be interesting and informative. Yes they wanted to sell us but after explaining we had a long way to go and we did not have a lot of money they turned into information gurus. Like all technical sales people they are experts in their field and we spent hours enjoying talking with them and drinking endless Chai.

Chaikana having lunch. Note the Hooka pipes

We took some images for you.  Please take a trip with us through the Bazaar at Tabriz. 
Just click the picture and the near the top of the picture where it says information clik the full screen and you will have information on the image.




Enjoy.



After the carpets we decided we had better get going and explore some of the outlying region instead of drooling over these gorgeous works of art.



So we hired a taxi and off we went to Kandovan a village of rock houses, no tourists and beautiful weather.

The stone houses of Kandovan 1300 AD Iran.

Tomorrow is a big day we plan to go to Eras River Valley. The Valley runs along the Armenian and Azerbijan border. Historically it is an important border area and parts of the Valley are still contested but it it open for us to visit without military passes. They say the vistas are fabulous.

This is my journal date 22/10/11