Nishapur

Nishapur was one of the great cities of the medieval Islamic world, a centre of learning and ceramics on the Khorasan road, largely destroyed by the Mongols and by earthquakes and never fully recovering, and what draws visitors now are its graves. Omar Khayyam, the mathematician, astronomer and poet, is buried here under a mausoleum built in 1963, an open lattice of concrete diamonds designed by Hooshang Seyhoun that is one of the better modern monuments in Iran. Attar, the Sufi poet who wrote the Conference of the Birds, lies nearby under a Timurid dome. The hills north of the town hold the mines that have produced Iranian turquoise for millennia, and the stone is sold and worked in the bazaar.

History

The city was founded in the 3rd century by Shapur I as the capital of a Sasanian province known as Abarshahr, later became the capital of the 9th-century Tahirid dynasty and the first capital of the 11th-century Seljuk Empire, and the turquoise mines nearby have supplied high-quality stone for at least two thousand years (Wikipedia, Nishapur).

The main sights

• Khayyam's lattice mausoleum - an open concrete structure of 1963.
• Attar's tomb - the Sufi poet under a Timurid dome.
• Turquoise from the local mines - stone worked and sold in the town.
• The Khorasan setting - the old road city between Mashhad and Tehran.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Half a day. Both tombs are set in gardens and are used by Iranians as places to sit and read. Turquoise workshops are open on working days.

Things to know

Almost nothing of the medieval city survives above ground. Both mausolea are twentieth-century or later structures over the graves. Turquoise sold to visitors varies greatly in quality and treatment; buy carefully. English interpretation is minimal.

Nearby

Mashhad is east; Tus lies north-east.