A city built for the desert
Between two deserts, Yazd should hardly exist. It survives thanks to qanats, underground channels dug by hand that carry water for kilometres from the mountains, and its qanat builders are counted the most skilled in Iran. Above ground, the old city is a maze of narrow lanes and mud-brick walls that keep out the sun, and on the rooftops stand hundreds of badgirs, windcatchers that pull cool air down into the houses.
Old faiths
Yazd is a centre of Iran’s Zoroastrian community. In the Atashkadeh fire temple, a sacred fire is said to have burned continuously since the 5th century. On the edge of the city stand the Towers of Silence, where Zoroastrians once laid their dead.
What to see
The tiled Jameh Mosque has some of the tallest minarets in Iran. The Amir Chakhmaq complex lights up its tiered facade at night. In the Dowlatabad Garden, a pavilion stands beneath a tall windcatcher over a long pool. Before leaving, try the city’s sweets: baklava, ghotab and pashmak, the Persian candy floss.
