Additional information
by Hossein Manoochehri (Author)
Yazd City, the capital of Yazd province, is a historic city in Iran, which is located about 500 miles southeast of Tehran. In a Farsi source, the date of the foundation of this city is linked to the time of Alexander (c. 320 B.C.) as he ordered the construction of a prison in this location to keep Persian princes. Many features of the indigenous (or the clay) architecture are present in this province in their best forms and shapes (--sometimes it is referred to as the Yazd School of architecture ), such as clay castles, the Jam'a mosque, traditional houses, wind-catching towers (baadgeirs), baazaars, dome and arch by mud-bricks, koochehes ( narrow alleyways), ground, water reservoirs, and qanat irrigation system. Because of a modernization process in Iran from about 1950s, however, the clay architecture in Iran, as well as in Yazd, has been abandoned and historic buildings and structures have been demolished to be replaced by apartment complexes and by modern buildings made up of metal skeleton and concrete blocks. The present series seeks to collect images of the survived, architectural features in the historic cities of Iran before they are completely wiped out in a modernization process. Volume VII of this series, therefore, invites viewers to A Visual Journey To Yazd City for a review of the samples of the clay (or the indigenous) architecture in this historic city, which is in the process of being registered by UNESCO as a world's heritage site.
Yazd City, the capital of the Yazd Province, is a historic city of Iran, which is in the process by being registered by the UNSCO as world's heritage city due to many unique, architectural features. The historic cities of Iran, founded centuries ago, host many features of the indigenous architecture of Iran. The indigenous ( or the clay) architecture of Iran is a unique architectural genre characterized by the use of mud-bricks as well as dome-like roofs for the ceilings. Traditional tiles and tile-works, furthermore, are used for the interior and exterior decorations of the buildings. Although there are many historic cities in Iran, seven of them are selected in this series. They include: Kermaan City, Kaashaan, Naaein (Naa-een), Shiraaz, Persepolis, Isfahaan City, and Yazd City. VolumeVI of this series covers main indigenous, architectural features in the historic city of Isfahaan. Many features of the indigenous (or clay) architecture are present in Yazd City, such as Yazd's Jam'a Mosque, (c. A.D. 15th century), baazaars, domes, vaulted ceilings, and arches by mud-bricks, and clay, koochehes (narrow alleyways), and the qanat irrigation system, and many wind-catching towers ( baadgeirs ) . Because of a modernization process in Iran from about 1950s, however, the clay architecture in Iran, as well as in Yazd City, has been abandoned and historic buildings and structures have been demolished to be replaced by apartment complexes and by modern buildings made up of metal skeleton and concrete blocks. The present series seeks to collect images of the survived, architectural features in the historic cities of Iran before they are completely wiped out in a modernization process. The revised edition of the Volume VII of this series (copyright 2021), invites viewers to A Visual Journey To Yazd City for a review of the samples of the clay ( or the indigenous) architecture in this historic city, which hosts rich samples of the clay architecture which is known as The Yazd School of the indigenous architecture of Iran.
