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Kashan

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Kashan is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province of Iran. This is a common destination for tourists due to its multiple historical sites after cities like Isfahan and Shiraz. It is a traditional city with many sites and surrounding attractive villages to discover. Kashan is divided into two parts including mountainous and desert. Kashan is cited in the neighbourhood of two of highest peaks of Karkas chain, Mount Gargash to the southwest of Kashan and Mount Ardehaal in the west of Kashan, also known as “Damavand of Kashan” and the highest peak of Ardehaal mountains, in the west side; and in the east side of the city, Kashan opens up to the central desert of Iran which the city is famous for. Kashan is also known for Maranjab Desert and Caravanserai located near the Salt Lake.

Kashan

Kashan is a charming city due to its contrast between the parched immensities of the deserts and the greenery of the oasis. Archeologists discovered that this region was one of the primary centers of civilization in pre-historic ages in the Sialk Hillocks lied about 4km west of Kashan.

Kashan

Kashan was also a leisure vacation spot for Safavid Kings. Fin Garden, specifically, is one of the most famous gardens of Iran. This beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise.

Kashan

Traditional houses especially, Tabatabaei, Borujerdi, Ameri and Abbasi house feature an incredible architecture, tile work and stucco.

Kashan

Archeological finds yielded conclusive evidence of the fact that Kashan has been the cradle of many Iranian traditional crafts. Kashan maintained its great importance as a center of traditional industries throughout all historical periods. This town, as a city associated with high-quality ceramic production in the medieval period, appears to have been a major site for the manufacture of fine wares.

Persian Pottery

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Persian Pottery

Iranian pottery production presents a continuous history from the beginning of Iranian history until the present day. In Iran pottery manufacture has a long and brilliant history. Due to the special geographical position of the country, being at the crossroads of ancient civilizations and on important caravan routes, almost every part of Iran was, at times, involved in pottery making. Yet, recent excavations and archaeological research revealed that there were four major pottery-manufacturing areas in the Iranian plateau. These included the western part of the country, namely the area west of the Zagros Mountains (Lorestan), and the area south of the Caspian Sea (Gilan and Mazandaran provinces).

Persian Pottery

One of the earliest known and excavated prehistoric sites that produced pottery is Ganj Darreh Tappeh in the Kermanshah region. Another great discovery was made south of the Caspian Sea in a cave, in the so-called Kamarband, (Belt cave) near present day Behshahr.

With the invention and the introduction of the potter’s wheel, it became possible to produce better quality and symmetrically-shaped vessels; the number of pottery types made was greatly increased as well. The decoration of these objects was made with much greater care and artistic skill, and the designs used were greatly enriched and carefully selected.

Persian Pottery

In general the history of Iranian-Islamic pottery can be divided into three main periods Post-Sassanian or Early Islamic Period; Middle Islamic Period; Later Islamic Period.

In these three periods, which lasted for more than a thousand years, numerous pottery centers were established, which produced innumerable types of wares.

Currently, pottery art is popular in traditional and industrial ways in Iran, and its main centers are: Laljin, Hamedan, Meybod, Yazd, Kalporgan, Minab, Gilan, Gonabad, Shahreza and etc.

Laljin

Laljin is known as the Middle East pottery and ceramic works. 80 percent of the population of the city of Laljin is engaged in pottery and ceramic works.

Persian Pottery

Handicrafts of Isfahan – Part 2

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In the first part, we reviewed 5 items of Isfahan handicrafts. In the following, there are other items from Isfahan Handicrafts.

6. Moaragh

The word “Moaragh” actually means something tidy, the art of making art is the laying of colorful and valuable wood, such as ivory, oysters, and metal, to achieve the desired design.

Wood art mosaic can be one of the most beautiful and finest wood arts and crafts in Iran. The Isfahan art scene in Iran has a special place, the best and most diverse works of the world about this art to the Iranians. In fact, this art is really about making different kinds of different types of different colors and patterns.

7. Ghalamkari

Ghalamkari is derived from the Persian words ghalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen. This is a type of hand-painted or wooden block-printed cotton textile, using natural dyes. It is an old craft that has been used as a conduit for their artistic creativity by the Iranian graphic designers, since the antiquity.

8. Firoozeh Koobi

Firoozeh Koobi (Turquoise) is one of the most popular arts in Isfahan. In this art, small pieces of turquoise appear on the surface of dishes, jewelry and decorative objects. This works on copper, brass, silver and bronze surfaces.

9. Carpet Weaving

Carpets are one of the first artistic handicrafts which have been woven since ancient times in Persia. Iranian Carpets have always been famous all over the world. Almost all international tourists buy even a small Iranian carpet during their trips in Iran. During the Safavid era, Isfahan was considered one of the main centers of carpet weaving in Iran and there were a lot of workshops. Today, the city of Meyme is one of the important centers for producing handmade carpets in Isfahan province.

10. Pottery and Ceramics

Pottery is the process of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired to give them a hard, durable form. This art is considered in the city of Isfahan, as well as in the cities of Natanz and Shahreza

11. Miniature

Miniature is a kind of painting that has long existed in Iran. This type of painting can be sold as decorative panels or used in the architecture to decorate the walls.

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