Asia

[Visited: May 2022]

While Yazd is a mighty interesting and beautiful city in itself, I also want to use it as a base to explore sights in the vicinity. One morning, after another tasty breakfast in which I feast on watermelon and stroke the adorable cat of my guesthouse, an Iranian man shows up. Before he says anything, I know he must be my driver for the day. Although we don't speak a common language, we immediately get along well. We drive off direction north. Our first destination is the old city of Kharanaq, as suggested by my host in Yazd. When we arrive, I get off at the foot of a big building: this is where the old town of Kharanaq starts. On the other side of the road: the old caravanserai, which turns out to be closed. I walk to the main entrance to start my exploration of this adobe town.
With 4500 years, Kharanaq is one of the oldest towns of Iran, and it was one of the Silk Road cities. That explains the big caravanserai just outside the old town. Kharanaq was constructed in such a way that attackers would get lost in the maze of alleys that twist and turn around adobe buildings. It was also an important farming town, but when water levels dropped, many people fled, eventually leaving Kharanaq in ruins. There is a new town where more than 100 families still live. But it is obvious that the town is marginalised now. I walk the empty streets, see many collapsed buildings, with ramshackle stairs leading to the upper floor. There is a lot of rubble on the floors. It doesn't take long before I decide to climb one of those stairs, and I find myself on a rooftop where I am not even sure it is safe to walk - I do see some holes in the floor.
The views are awesome: the ruins of adobe houses just below, the landscape of barren fields with green patches, and mountains in the background. I climb more rooftops for their views, and I am never disappointed. Then, I reach a section of the old city that has obviously been reconstructed. A minaret towers high above the mosque it belongs to. This is one of the few Shaking minarets: it is said that you can make it move by using just your hands. Unfortunately, the entrance is closed, and I cannot see it for myself. The minaret is exquisite just to look at, with several bands of geometric patterns, and lines around the circular structure. A little lower, I find the entrance to the mosque, where I find mostly white walls, but also some parts with fine decorations with calligraphy. The sun finally burns through the clouds, and the ruins of the adobe houses of Kharanaq take on a different look. I roam around the old city again, climb those stairs again, and when I finally find my way out, I am happy. The caravanserai is still closed, and I find my driver chatting with an old villager. After a friendly goodbye, we are on our way to the next destination of the day: the sacred Zoroastrian site of Chak-chak.

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Kharanaq (Iran)

Kharanaq > Iran > Asia

[Visited: May 2022]

Around the World in 80 Clicks