Yazd - City of Iran

Yazd , is the capital of Yazd province in Iran, "the second most ancient and historic city in the world" and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan. Because of generations of adaptations to its desert surroundings, Yazd is an architecturally unique city. It is also known in Iran for the high quality handicrafts, especially silk weaving, and its sweets shops.

Yazd is the driest major city in Iran, with an average annual rainfall of only 60 millimetres and also the hottest north of the Persian Gulf coast,with summer temperatures very frequently above 40 °C in blazing sunshine with no humidity. Even at night the temperatures in summer are rather uncomfortable. In the winter, the days remain mild and sunny.

The city has a 3000 year long history, dating back to the time of the Median empire, when it was known as Ysatis. The present city name, however, may have been derived from Yazdegerd I, a Sassanid ruler. The city was definitely a Zoroastrian centre during Sassanid times. After the Islamic conquest of Persia, many Zoroastrians fled to Yazd from neighbouring provinces. The city remained Zoroastrian even after the conquest by paying a levy, and only gradually did Islam come to be the dominant religion in the city.

There is a very amazing thing about Yazd and its people who moved to the east of Yazd. In the rule of the Safavis people from Yazd migrated to a place and called it Yazdi: This place is currently on the Iranian-Afghan border in the province of Farah, in Farah city in Afghanistan. The people of Yazdi in Farah city, in the province of Farah, are all Persians and Shi'ite Muslims. They speak with an accent that is very similar to the Iranian people of Yazd. These Shi'ite-Persians in Yazdi of Farah city are forgotten.

The University of Yazd was established in 1988. It has a college of Architecture specializing in traditional Persian Art and Architecture. Yazd and its nearby towns contain the following institutes of higher education:


University of Yazd
Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services
Islamic Azad University of Bafq
Islamic Azad University of Maybod
Islamic Azad University of Yazd
Yazd Sampad Information Center
Yazd Science and Technology Park