Sarvestan

Sarvestan (Persian: سروستان‎‎ Sarvestân, "land of cedars"; sarv "cedar" (cypress) + estan; also Romanized as Sarvestān and Sarvistān) is a city in and the capital of Sarvestan County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 16,846, in 4,094 families.

It is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of Shiraz, the capital of Fars province.

The majority of people in Sarvestan are Persians. Many tropical and sub-tropical plants are grown in Sarvestan (i.e. Wheat, Pistachios, Olive). The yoghurt of Sarvestan is very famous.

History

Sarvestan's history goes back some 2600 years when the Achaemenids established the Persian Empire. The Sassanid monument of Sasanids' Palace (Kakhe Sasan) is located in south east of the city 90 km from Shiraz, experts believe the monument was constructed during the Sasanid dynastic era (224-651 A.D), and it was either a governing palace or a Zoroastrian temple, probably a fire temple. The monument was registered in Iran’s National Heritage list in 1956 but sadly the site in danger as the result of unprofessional restorations. Sarvestan is the birthplace of Sheikh Yusef Sarvestani, who was a moralist.

Shiraz

Shiraz (ⁱ/ʃiːˈrɑːz/; Persian: شیراز‎‎, Šīrāz, Persian pronunciation: [ʃiːˈrɒːz],  pronunciation ) is the fifth most populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province (Old Persian as Pârsâ). At the 2011 census, the population of the city was 1,460,665 and its built-up area with "Shahr-e Jadid-e Sadra" (Sadra New Town) was home to 1,500,644 inhabitants. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the "Roodkhaneye Khoshk" (The Dry River) seasonal river. It has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years. It is regarded as one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia.

The earliest reference to the city, as Tiraziš, is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC. In the 13th century, Shiraz became a leading center of the arts and letters, due to the encouragement of its ruler and the presence of many Persian scholars and artists. It was the capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1750 until 1781, as well as briefly during the Saffarid dynasty. Two famous poets of Iran, Hafez and Saadi, are from Shiraz, whose tombs are on the north side of the current city boundaries.