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Tourism Information of Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari

Kermanshah / Kirmaşan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran . The province was known from 1969 to 1986 as Kermanshahan and from 1986 to 1995 as Bakhtaran . In 2014 it was placed in Region 4 , with the region's central secretariat located at the province's capital city , Kermanshah .

Counties

Kemanshah consists of 14 shahrestans : Dalaho County ; Gilan-e-gharb County ; Harsin County ; Islamabad-e-gharb County ; Javanrud County ; Kangavar County ; Kermanshah County ; Paveh County ; Qasr-e-Shirin County ; Ravansar county ; Sahneh County ; Sarpol-e-Zahab County ; Solas-e-Babajani County ; Sonqor County .

Major cities and towns in Kermanshah Province : Kermanshah ; Eslamabad-e Gharb ; Paveh ; Harsin ; Kangavar ; Sonqor ; Javanrud ; Salas-e-babajani ; Ravansar ; Dalahoo ; Gilan-Gharb ; Sahneh ; Qasr-e Shirin ; Sarpol-e-Zahab .

Capital

The province's capital is Kermanshah (34°18′N 47°4′E) , located in the middle of the western part of Iran . The population of the city is 822,921 .

The city is built on the slopes of Mt.Sefid Kooh and extended toward south during last two decades . The builtup areas run alongside Sarab River and Valley . City's elevation average about 1350 meters above sea level .

The distance between Kermanshah and Teheran is 525 km . It is the trade center of rich agricultural region that produces grain , rice , vegetable , fruits , and oilseeds , and there are many industrial centers , oil and sugar refineries , and cement , textile and flour factories , etc . The airport (Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport) is located in north east of the city , and the distance from Tehran is 413 km by air .

History

The province has a rich Paleolithic heritage . Many caves with Paleolithic remains have been surveyed or excavated there . some of these cave sites are located in Bisetun and north of Kermanshah . The first known physical remains of Neanderthal man in Iran was discovered in Bisitun Cave . Do-Ashkaft , Kobeh , Warwasi , and Mar Tarik are some of the Middle Paleolithic sites in the region . Kermanshah also has many Neolithic sites , of which the most famous are Ganj Dareh , Sarab , and Asiab . At Ganj Dareh , the earliest evidence for goat domestication have been documented . In May 2009 , based on a research conducted by the University of Hamedan and UCL , the head of Archeology Research Center of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization announced that the oldest prehistoric village in the Middle East dating back to 9800 B.C. , was discovered in Sahneh , located in west of Kermanshah .

The monuments found in Kermanshah show two glorious periods , the Achaemenid and Sassanid eras . The mythical ruler of the Pishdadian is described as founding the city while Tahmores Divband built it . An alternative narrative is that the construction was by Bahram IV of the Sassanid dynasty during the 4th century CE . Kermanshah reached a peak during the reign of Hormizd IV and Khosrau I of Sassanids , before being demoted to a secondary royal residence .

The city suffered major damage during the Arab invasions but recovered in the Safavid period to make great progress . Concurrent with the Afghan attack and the fall of Isfahan , Kermanshah was almost completely destroyed by the Ottoman invasion .

During the Iran–Iraq War the province suffered heavy fighting . Most towns and cities were badly damaged and some like Sar-e Pol-e Zahab and Qhasr-e-Shirin were almost completely destroyed .

Climate

As it is situated between two cold and warm regions enjoys a moderate climate . Kermanshah has a moderate and mountainous climate . It rains most in winter and is moderately warm in summer . The annual rainfall is 500 mm . The average temperature in the hottest months is above 22 °C .

Local products

Kermanshah lends its name to a type of Persian carpet named after the region . It also has famous sweets made of rice , locally known as Nân berendji . The other famous Kermanshahi good is a special kind of oil , locally known as Rüne Dân and globally in Iran known as Roghan Kermanshahi . The Giveh of Kermanshah known as Klash is the highest quality Giveh .

Historical attractions

Various attractions exist that date from the pre-Islamic era , such as the Kohneh Bridge , to contemporary parks and museums . Some of the more popular sites are :

Bisotun : Darius the Great's inscription at Bisotun , which dates to 522 BCE , lies some 1300 meters high in the mountains , and counts as one of the most famous sites in Near Eastern archeology . The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site , and has been attracting visitors for centuries . The Behistun inscription is to Old Persian cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs , the trilingual inscription (in Old Persian , Elamite and Akkadian) was crucial in the decipherment of the script . The relief above the inscription depicts Darius facing nine rebels who objected to his crowning . At the king's feet lies Gaumata . The location of this important historical document is not coincidental : Gaumata , a usurper who is depicted as lying at Darius' feet , was a Medean and in Achaemenid times Behistun lay on the Medea-Parsa highway .

Behistun is also notable for three reliefs at the foot of the hill that date from the Parthian era . Among them is a Hellenistic-era depiction of the divinity Bahram as the Greek hero Hercules , who reclines with a goblet in his hand , a club at his feet and a lion-skin beneath him . Because it lies on the route of an ancient highway , this life-size rock sculpture may reflect Bahram's status as patron divinity of travelers .

Taq-e Bostan : The rock reliefs at Taq-e Bostan lie 6 kilometres (4 mi) northeast of Kermanshah , where a spring gushes from a mountain cliff and empties into a large reflecting pool . One of the more impressive reliefs , inside the largest grotto (ivan) , is the oversized depiction of Sassanid king Khosrau II (591–628 CE) , who appears mounted on his favorite charger , Shabdiz . Both the horse and the rider are arrayed in full battle armor .

There are two hunting scenes on complementary sides of the ivan : one depicts an imperial boar hunt and the other depicting the king stalking deer . Elephants flush out the boar from a marshy lake for the king who stands poised with bow and arrow in hand while he is serenaded by female musicians following in other boats . These royal hunting scenes are narrative murals in stone are count among the most vivid of all Iranian rock reliefs .

The Taq-e Bostan reliefs are not limited to the Sassanid era . An upper relief depicts the 19th century Qajar king Fath-Ali shah holding court .

The Kangavar archaeological complex : Kangavar is the site of the archaeological remains of a vast Hellenic-style edifice on a raised platform . The visible remains at the site date to early Sassanid times , but the platform of the complex may be several centuries older . By the time excavation began in 1968 , the complex had been preemptorily associated with a comment by Isidore of Charax who referred to a temple of Anahita at Concobar (the Greek name of Kangavar , which was then in Lower Medea) . Despite archaeological findings to the contrary , the association with the divinity of fertility , healing , and wisdom has made the site a popular tourist attraction . The vast edifice was built of enormous blocks of dressed stone with an imposing entrance of opposed staircases that may have been inspired by the Apadana in Persepolis .

Notable people

of the renowned scientists and writers of this region is Al-Dinawari who was born at Dinawar north-east of Kermanshah . He lived in the 9th century and has written many books in astronomy , botany and history . Notable people born in Kermansha include British author , Nobel prize winner , Doris Lessing , whose father , a British army officer , was stationed there at the time of her birth . Mirza Ahmad Khan Motazed-Dowleh Vaziri created the first printing office and founded the first private school of Kermanshahan . Guity Novin a painter and a graphic designer who has founded the Transpressionism movement was born in Kermanshah .

Behistun Inscription

The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran , near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran . It was crucial to the decipherment of cuneiform script .

Authored by Darius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC , the inscription begins with a brief autobiography of Darius , including his ancestry and lineage . Later in the inscription , Darius provides a lengthy sequence of events following the deaths of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II in which he fought nineteen battles in a period of one year (ending in December 521 BC) to put down multiple rebellions throughout the Persian Empire . The inscription states in detail that the rebellions , which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses II , were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire , each of whom falsely proclaimed kinghood during the upheaval following Cyrus's death .

Darius the Great proclaimed himself victorious in all battles during the period of upheaval , attributing his success to the "grace of Ahura Mazda" .

The inscription includes three versions of the same text , written in three different cuneiform script languages : Old Persian , Elamite , and Babylonian (a later form of Akkadian) . In effect , then, the inscription is to cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs : the document most crucial in the decipherment of a previously lost script .

The inscription is approximately 15 metres high by 25 metres wide and 100 metres up a limestone cliff from an ancient road connecting the capitals of Babylonia and Media (Babylon and Ecbatana , respectively) . The Old Persian text contains 414 lines in five columns ; the Elamite text includes 593 lines in eight columns , and the Babylonian text is in 112 lines . The inscription was illustrated by a life-sized bas-relief of Darius I , the Great , holding a bow as a sign of kingship , with his left foot on the chest of a figure lying on his back before him . The supine figure is reputed to be the pretender Gaumata . Darius is attended to the left by two servants , and nine one-meter figures stand to the right , with hands tied and rope around their necks , representing conquered peoples . Faravahar floats above , giving his blessing to the king . One figure appears to have been added after the others were completed , as was Darius's beard , which is a separate block of stone attached with iron pins and lead .

Taq Bostan

Taq wa San or Taq-e Bostan is a site with a series of large rock reliefs from the era of Sassanid Empire of Persia , the Iranian dynasty which ruled western Asia from 226 to 650 AD . This example of Sassanid art is located 5 km from the city center of Kermanshah in western Iran . It is located in the heart of the Zagros mountains , where it has endured almost 1,700 years of wind and rain . Originally , several sources were visible next to and below the reliefs and arches , some of which are now covered . Sources next to the reliefs still feed a large basin in front of the rock . The site has been turned into an archaeological park and a series of late Sasanian and Islamic column capitals have been brought together (some found at Taq-i Bustan , others at Bisitun and Kermanshah) .

The carvings , some of the finest and best-preserved examples of Persian sculpture under the Sassanids , include representations of the investitures of Ardashir II (379-383) and Shapur III (383-388) . Like other Sassanid symbols , Taq-e Bostan and its relief patterns accentuate power , religious tendencies , glory , honor , the vastness of the court , game and fighting spirit , festivity , joy , and rejoicing .

Sassanid kings chose a beautiful setting for their rock reliefs along an historic Silk Road caravan route waypoint and campground . The reliefs are adjacent a sacred springs that empty into a large reflecting pool at the base of a mountain cliff .

Taq-e Bostan and its rock relief are one of the 30 surviving Sassanid relics of the Zagros mountains . According to Arthur Pope , the founder of Iranian art and archeology Institute in the USA , "art was characteristic of the Iranian people and the gift which they endowed the world with ."

Do-Ashkaft Cave

The Do-Ashkaft Cave , being the Middle Paleolithic cave site , is located at north of Kermanshah , near Taq-e Bostan . It is located about 1600 metres above the sea level and its entrance faces south , overlooking the national park of Kuhestan . The site was discovered by two Iranian researchers , F. Biglari and S. Heydari in 1999 and during next four years was sampled each month which resulted in a rich Middle Paleolithic lithic collection . The Mousterian occupants of the cave made their tools on local raw material outcrops around the cave .

Statue of Hercules

Statue of Hercules is located in Mount Behistun and was discovered around 1957 . It was built in 153 BC during the time of Seleucid Empire or Parthian Empire . Hercules is lying on a 2 m long platform and holds a bowl in his left hand . He has put his right hand on his foot . The statue is 1.47 m long and is attached to the mountain . The head of the statue was stolen twice , but discovered again . However , the current head is a double and the actual head is in Cultural Heritage , Handcrafts and Tourism Organization . At the time it was discovered , he had a penis , but after the Islamic revolution it was broken down by locals .