Tafresh

Tafresh
تفرش
City

Tafresh in winter
Tafresh
Coordinates: 34°41′31″N 50°00′47″E / 34.69194°N 50.01306°E / 34.69194; 50.01306Coordinates: 34°41′31″N 50°00′47″E / 34.69194°N 50.01306°E / 34.69194; 50.01306
Country  Iran
Province Markazi
Bakhsh Central
Population (2011)
 • Total 25,912
Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30)
 • Summer (DST) IRDT (UTC+4:30)

Tafresh[1] (Persian: تفرش‎‎) is a city (academic city) in Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 25,912 (12,884 males and 13,028 females).[2]

Tafresh is located amidst high mountains 222 kilometres (138 mi) southwest of Tehran. Tafresh is an old city and formed a Zoroastrian stronghold for many years.

History

Tafresh has provided Iran with many notable figures such as poets, ministers, statesmen, scientists, calligraphers etc. Among them are Nizami Ganjavi, the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature. Some scholars believe that his ancestry from his father-side was in Tafresh. Others include Professor Mahmoud Hessaby, the father of modern physics in Iran, Ahmad Parsa, the father of Iranian botanics, Abbas Sahab, the father of Cartography science in Iran and Abdolkarim Qarib, the father of Iran's geology. Many famous Iranians were from Tafresh, Because of this, Tafresh has received the nickname "City of Iran's Fathers".

It is believed that in Sasanian times, Zoroastrianism was the state religion and was threatened by Islam, an army warrior called Delaram made a resistance force for the Zoroastrians in Tafresh. One of the villages in Tafresh was called "Delaram" after this army warrior, however after Islamic conquest of Persia, the name Teraran was given to it. Teraran means "The Thieves" in Middle Persian.

Today there are still many remaining of Zoroastrian strongholds in and around the town, particularly on the summits of the surrounding mountains and hills also remaining of the Zoroastrians graveyards can be seen specially in Kaburan village near Tafresh.

Universities

Three universities are situated in Tafresh: Tafresh University(formerely branch of Amirkabir University of Technology), Tafresh Azad University and the Tafresh branch of the Payame Noor University.

Village life

Tafresh is made of many villages which are: Teraran, Kaburan, Kahak, Naqusan, Tad, Denigerd, Zaghar, Koukan, Dadmarz, Kouhin, Shahrab, Kohandan, Bazerjan, Ezedin, Sarabadan, Kherazan, Khanak, Ghaleh. Although many people live in Tafresh, its numbers are decreasing as many leave Tafresh to go to Tehran or other main cities of Iran. Some of the summer resorts around Tafresh are Teraran, Shahchenar and Naqusan. The Ab Garrau spa is a touristic place around Tafresh. Tourists of the villages usually visit them in the summer. The other village which is very close to Tafresh is Kahak. this village is located near the mountains and its name was originally Kohak. The people of this village have their own dialect named "Burbasa" derived from "Bura"(come ) and "Basowe"(go).

Notables

References

  1. ↑ Tafresh can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3086584" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
  2. ↑ http://www.sci.org.ir/SitePages/report_90/ostani/ostani_population_report_final_permision.aspx
  3. 1 2 3 http://tafresh.net/
  4. ↑ "Sahab Geographic & Drafting Institute - First Page (Persian)".

External resource

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tafresh.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tafresh.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.