Shiraz, ”The Garden of Iran“ is the capital city of the Fars province and a treasure trove of Persian culture. Shiraz is the fifth most populated city in Iran and the capital of Fars Province. It is located in the southwest of Iran, has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for more than a thousand years.

The stony columns of Persepolis standing high and skyward, historical garden-monuments with the myriad of the colors of their ornaments and decorations, the Mediterranean cypresses, enamored and in dance, at the hand of the cool breeze, the stunning play of color and light in the mesmerizing mosque of Nashir’al Molk, and the odor of the orange blossoms waving everywhere in the city’s air, all surely cast spell on those tourists who come to visit Shiraz.

Shiraz is the city in Iran known for its poets, its literature, its gardens… And its wine! You can find these elements all around the world. This could be a famed verse from Saadi’s poem is inscribed at the entrance to the Hall of Nations in New York’s UN headquarters; The Cyrus Cylinder, a clay tablet containing his statements that is the first human rights declaration in history or Shiraz wine that refers to two types of wine.

Artists of Shiraz in the history of Iranian art in the line of gilding, planting and flowering, architecture and plastering, crochet and silver, embroidered silk, carpet weaving and carving were among the nominees and excellence of this art.

Top places to visit in Shiraz are Naranjestan Garden and Zinat Almolok House. Nasir Almolk Mosque, Zandiye Complex includes Karim’Khan Erg or castle, Pars Museum, Vakil Mosque, Vakil Bazar and Saraye Moshir, Shah Cheraq holy shrine, tombs of the city’s two most beloved poets – Hafez and Saadi, the magnificent Persepolis and Naghsh-e-Rostam.