Welcome back to Inside Iran. After exploring the
traditional city of Isfahan, we now take you to the diverse
city of Shiraz with its impressive sites. We'll try Iranian
fast food and step back in time at Persepolis.
After checking out the capital and the traditional city of
Esfahan, we now want to explore more of the south.
[David] And this is why we came to Shiraz.
[Steve] Let's explore!
We start our discovery at the historical old town with the
Vakil Mosque and the Vakil Bazaar.
The Vakil Mosque was built between 1751-1773, during
the Zand period. Vakil means regent, which was the title
used by Karim Kahn the founder of the Zand dynasty. Under
the rule of Karim Kahn Shiraz became the capital of
Persia in 1762. Employing more than 12,000 workers, he
constructed the royal district with a fortress, many
administrative buildings, a mosque, and one of the finest
covered bazaars in Iran.
It seems like always when we are on a bazaar, we
somehow end up in a tea house with a water pipe. But this
one is the original one from Shiraz. And, it comes with
natural tobacco. How is it?
[David] Pretty strong, actually.
[Steve] Good.
Talking about Karim Kahn, who was once the ruler of
ancient Persia in the 1700s, we're now at the Karim Kahn
Citadel. And these used to be the living quarters of this
guy. Not too bad.
Karim Kahn invited the best architects and artists of the
time and bought the best materials from other cities and
abroad for construction of the citadel, which only took
one year to build. During the Qajar period, it was used as
the governer's seat. Right after, the citadel was turned
into a prison. Nowadays, it is a museum operated by
Iran's cultural heritage organization.
Persian traditional cuisine is nice, but today, we have a
break and we try out the Iranian version of fast food. So,
we're here in a fast food place where they have burger,
pizza, and fries. It's going to be an experience. The hot
dog is gigantic. That is like the size of your arm.
What's the experience? Not so good? So-so?
It has a smoky taste. There's actually a lot of green stuff
in it. A lot of salad. Tastes fresh. It's also kind of a yogurt
sauce on it. It's actually much better than I expected. I
would say definitely worth trying.
Another must see in Shiraz is the Shah Sheraq Mosque
which is best to visit at night because of the beautiful
lights you see. Look at this mosque.
This site is the most important place of pilgrimage within
the city of Shiraz. Shah Sheraq is Persian for King of the
Light. The site was given its name due to the nature of the
discovery of the site by Ayatullah Dastghā'ib. He used to see light
from a distance and decided to investigate the source. He
found that light was being emitted by a grave within a
graveyard. The grave that emitted the light was excavated
and the body wearing an armor was discovered. The body
was wearing a ring saying,  "The Pride belongs to God, Ahmad son of Musa"
Thus, it became known that this was the burial site of the
sons of Mūsā al-Kādhim. The tombs became celebrated pilgrimage
centers the 14th century when Queen Tashi Khatun erected the
mosque and theological school in the vicinity.
There's one thing in Shiraz you should get up really early
for, and this is the Nasir ol Molk Mosque, or the Pink
Mosque. Why? I will show you.
The Nasir ol Molk Mosque was built from 1876-1888,
during the Qajar era, and is also known as the Pink
Mosque due to the considerable usage of pink colored
tiles for its interior design. It is best to visit very early in
the morning as this is the only time when you see the sun
shining through the multitude of stained glass windows,
which is simply impressive.
So, for breakfast today, we went into a coffee shop- pretty cool one.
We're now in the beautiful Eram Garden, which is located
in the north of Shiraz and is a historic Persian Garden that
was built in the middle of the 13th century, and is also part
of the unesco world heritage.
We used the chance to go on top of the Chamran Hotel
where you have an exceptional view of Shiraz. We
sneaked into the restaurant, went onto the terrace and then
the guys here even invited us for tea. That's not too bad.
When in Shiraz, you shouldn't miss out on Faloodeh,
which is basically like spaghetti ice, the same as we had
in Esfahan. But here is the best place to get it.
No trip to Shiraz would be complete without paying a
visit to the Tomb of Hafez, who is one of the greatest
Persian poets and who also influenced a lot of European
poets such as Goethe. And he is from here. He is from Shiraz.
It's finally time for some typical food from Shiraz. And
this is why we came to Haft Kahn which seems to be one
of the best restaurants in town. And it's pretty touristy too.
We have Ghormeh Sabzi. This is a vegetable lamb stew. It comes with
rice, of course. David has Budemjan which is basically a stew
with eggplant and lentils.
So, after about a one hour drive from Shiraz, we arrived at
the country's most important unesco world heritage site,
Persepolis. Which means, the City of the Persians. It used
to be the ceremonial capital of Persia from 550-330BC
until Alexander the Great destroyed it. It is believed that
he destroyed it by fire, and this was an act of revenge for
the Persians destroying the Acropolis 150 years before that.
For dinner, we found another traditional restaurant in
Shiraz. And today, we try out some vegetarian options.
We have Mirza Ghazemi and Kookoo Sabzi which is smoked eggplants, garlic,
tomatoes, bell pepper, and the Kookoo Sabzi is Perisan herb frittata,
finely chopped herbs mixed with egg and walnuts. And it
comes all with bread. And for drinks, we ordered Doogh
which is basically like the turkish Ayran. How is it?
Don't tell anyone. Shiraz!
This is it from Shiraz, my friends. In the next video
episode, I will show you around Yazd and the desert. If
you like this video, don't forget to leave a comment
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