Qazvin

Name: Also called Chazvin, there is also Kaswin, etc. Situation and access: Province of Zanjan. Altitude 1800 meters. 130 km N-W of Tehran on motorway and road. 520 km S-E of Tabriz on a good road. 210 km N-E of Hamadan on a good road. 250 km south of Bandar-e Anzali. Railway Tehran-Tabriz line.

City in northwestern Iran with 290,000 inhabitants (1996), in Teheran Province, 150 km northwest of Teheran on a wide, fertile plain on the southern foot of the Elburz Mountains.
Qazvin is the commercial centre of its surrounding agricultural region. The city has textile and flour mills, local wine production, cloth weaving, cotton ginning, wool carding, flour milling, food processing and electrical equipment manufacturing. Qazvin has a thermoelectric plant, and a modern poultry-raising complex.

Qazvin is well connected to Teheran, Rasht and Hamadan by road, and Teheran and Tabriz by railways.
Buildings dating from the time of the Seljuq sultans include the Friday mosque, the Haidariye madrasa, a square hall surmounted by a cupola, the tomb of Mostowfi, the Persian traveller and the Mosque of the Shah. About 60 km northeast of Qazvin lies the ruins of Alamut, the headquarters of the Assassins.

HISTORY

250 CE: Founded by the Sasanian king Shapur 1, and named Shad Shahpur.
7th century: Qazvin becomes the centre of the Islamization process in Persia.
8th century: Caliph Harun ar rashid builds strong fortifications around Qazvin.
13th century: Genghis Khan destroys Qazvin.
1548: King Tahmasp 1 makes Qazvin capital of the Safavid kingdom.
1598: At the sacrifice of Qazvin, Esfahan becomes new capital of the Safavid kingdom.
1796: Qazvin beomes a major base for trade between the Caspian Sea, persian gulf and Asia Minor.
1909: Qazvin is conquered by a Iranian nationalist force of Rasht.
1921: A coup d'état is launched from Qazvin, leading to the assumption of power by reza shah pahlavi and the establishment of modern Persia (later Iran).

Ardabil,Anzaliport,Hamedan,Kerman,Kermanshah,Kishisland,Qazvin,Qum,Semnan,Tabriz,

Yazd,Esfehan,Kashan,Mashhad,Shiraz,Tehran,Zanjan