I had a late start today. It was 0940 by the time I left the hotel; more than an hour after my usual start time. I tried to stay in the shadow of the buildings as I wandered around the old town.
I made two stops during my walkies, namely Lari House (and old mansion) and Jame Mosque. The latter was yet another beautiful mansion. But for Jame Mosque, I took time to appreciate that the patterns had been fashioned out of mosaic, as opposed to the Imam mosque where the patterns were on painted on tiles, fired and then assembled. So this mosque is considered to be of a higher workmanship compared to the much larger and famous Imam Mosque in Esfahan.
After a rest in the room, I continued in the midday heat to the main square and the adjacent Water Museum. Here they show the work involved in trenching underground to deliver water from its source to villages, farms and reservoirs.
They also explained how cellars are kept cool (around 21 degC) with wind towers while the street level is up at 35 degC. It’s pretty sobering to understand the extent of work required to sustain life in the old days.
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- Wind Towers in Yazd old city.
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- The alleys of Yazd old city.
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- Inside Lari House.
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- Detail in Lari House.
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- Jame Mosque before restoration.
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- Mausoleum of Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin
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- Jame Mosque.
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- Jame Mosque.
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- Detail of Jame Mosque.
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- Detail of Jame Mosque.
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- Detail of Jame Mosque.
I ordered my lunch/dinner around 1700 before heading out to the Towers of Silence at 1800 with driver Said, Andy (German) and my loyal hangers-on Mikel and Puri.
A Tower of Silence is a site, usually on a hill-top where Zoroastrians used to leave out human remains for vultures to eat. Until more recent times, it wasn’t considered ideal to bury or cremate, in order to avoid contaminating the earth.
We walked past the various buildings on-site, some of them preparation rooms for the dead bodies, I read. There were two towers, one higher than the other. The lower one looked too easy; the steps gave a sense of scale of the hill and indicated that it wasn’t as high as it looked.
The taller one looked a little too difficult but we realised there was a proper track hidden somewhat on the far side. It was a relatively easy walk up to the circular wall. We entered through a break in the wall to see the pit where presumably remains are left out for the vultures.
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- Yazd Fire Temple.
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- Zoroastrian symbol at the Yazd Fire Temple.
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- The Towers of Silence are where Zoroastrians left their dead to be fed to vultures. These are usually located on hilltops (in the background) and there are two on this site but only one is shown in the photo. The brick towers are Wind Towers to keep an underwater reservoir cool.
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- The Towers of Silence are where Zoroastrians left their dead to be fed to vultures. These are usually located on hilltop and there are two on this site but only one is shown in the photo.
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- The Towers of Silence are where Zoroastrians left their dead to be fed to vultures. These are usually located on hilltop and there are two on this site but only one is shown in the photo.
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- The Towers of Silence are where Zoroastrians left their dead to be fed to vultures. The pit where presumably the remains are left for the vultures.
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- The Towers of Silence are where Zoroastrians left their dead to be fed to vultures. These are usually located on hilltop and there are two on this site but only one is shown in the photo.
We got dropped off at the main square after. I was going to treat myself to an ice-cream but there was some misunderstanding. I thought the man said he didn’t have any, so I settled for a healthy juice (orange, apple, carrot). I was green witih envy when I saw Mikel’s pistachio-milk-icecream blend and vowed to have it the next night.
I dropped the other off for the zurkhaneh next door and returned to the hotel for the night.