tabriz

Tabriz (Persian/Azerbaijani:تبریز) is the most populated city in Iranian Azerbaijan, it is fourth largest city in Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former capitals, and residence of the crown prince under the Qajar dynasty. The city has proven extremely influential in the country’s recent history. Tabriz is located in a valley to the north of the long ridge of the volcanic cone of Sahand, south of the Eynali mountain. The valley opens out into a plain that slopes gently down to the northern end of Lake Urmia, 60 km to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers the city is considered a summer resort.

The estimated population of the city is around 1,400,000^[1] based on results of the Iranian census bureau. Tabriz is the fourth most populated city in Iran after Tehran, Mashhad, and Esfahan, while also being a major Iranian heavy industrial and manufacturing center. Some of these industries include automobile, machine tools, oil and petrochemical and cement production.^[2]

With a rich history, Tabriz contains many historical monuments, which repeated devastating earthquakes have substantially damaged. Monuments date back to the Ilkhanid, Safavid, and Qajar periods^[3][4][5], with the large Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex being named as a World Heritage Site in 2010

Main sights

Tabriz was devastated by several earthquakes during history (e.g., in 858, 1041, and 1721) and as a result, from numerous monuments only few of them or part of them have survived until now. Moreover, some of the historical monuments have been destroyed fully or partially within construction projects (e.g. Ark of Tabriz is in a real hazard of destruction now, because of ongoing construction project of "Mosal'laye Emam" close to it). Nonetheless, there are still numerous monuments remaining until now, which are listed as follows:^[21].

Bazaars Grand Bazaar of Tabriz, a world heritage site. Bridges (Historical) Aji bridge Ghari bridge Mansoor bridge Pol Sanghi (Stone bridge) Churches & mosques Adontist (Armenian church of) Assyrian church Blue Mosque (Goy Masjid) Catholic church of Tabriz Jamee mosque of Tabriz Saheb ol Amr mosque Saint Mary (Armenian church of) Shohada Mosque Gates (historical) Baghmasha gate Hamams (Old Turkish bath) Nobar bath Monuments Ark of Tabriz Daneshsara (faculty of education) East-Azerbaijan State Palace Municipality of Tabriz Tabriz Art University (former Charmsazi Khosravi) Tabriz Fire Fighting Tower Tabriz Railway Station Streets (famous) Ferdowsi street Pahlavi street (Imam St.) Shahnaz street  Tarbiyat street

Museums & historical houses[21] Amir Nezam House (Qajar museum) Behnam House (school of architecture) Boulourchian house Constitutional Revolution House of Tabriz (Mashrouteh museum) Ghadaki house Haidarzadeh house Hariree house House of Seghat ol Islam Sharbatoglu house Sorkheh-i house Azerbaijan Museum Iranian municipalities Iron Age museum Bohtouni museum Measure museum Muharram museum Nature museum Pottery museum Post museum Qur'an museum Rug museum Shahryar literature museum (house of Shahryar) Schools (Madrasah) Madrasah Akbarieh Ruins of Rabe Rashidi University Roshdieh school Shrines & Tombs Imamzadeh Ibrahim Maqbaratoshoara (tomb of poets) On ibn Ali's shrine Seyed Hamzeh shrine Two Kamals tomb

 http://en.wikipedia.org