Qazvin

Qazvin was founded by the Sasanian king Shapur I and refounded by Shapur II as a frontier town against raids from the Daylamite highlands to the north, and its position on the road from the plateau to the Caspian shaped everything that followed. It became a substantial Islamic city, a centre of scholarship with an unusually large number of religious schools, and the point from which armies and merchants set out into the mountains. In the 11th century those mountains became the territory of the Nizari Ismailis, whose castle at Alamut, north of the city, was taken by Hassan-i Sabbah in 1090 and held until the Mongols destroyed it in 1256.

Its great period came in the mid-16th century, when Shah Tahmasp moved the Safavid capital here from Tabriz, which was exposed to Ottoman attack. For about half a century Qazvin was the seat of the empire: a royal garden precinct was laid out with palaces and pavilions, of which the Ali Qapu gateway and the Chehel Sotoun pavilion survive, and a wide street, later called Sepah, ran through it. Shah Abbas I moved the court to Isfahan at the end of the century, and the city returned to being a provincial centre.

It stayed important as a trading town on the routes to Tabriz, Tehran and the Caspian, and under the Qajars merchants built caravanserais, mansions and covered bazaars, including the enormous Sa'd al-Saltaneh complex. Russian forces were stationed here in the early 20th century, leaving a small Orthodox church. Modern Qazvin has grown outward on the plain, with industrial estates along the Tehran highway and new districts around a well-preserved historic core.

Qazvin's identity rests on having been a capital, and the city is conscious of it: the Safavid monuments, the claim that Sepah Street was the first modern avenue in Iran, and the long list of scholars and clerics born here, and its name as the calligraphy capital of Iran, are cited readily. It has a reputation within Iran as a religious and conservative city, with an old tradition of religious schools and a large number of historic mosques, shrines and hosseiniehs for its size.

Muharram is the most visible moment in the calendar. Mourning ceremonies are held not only in the streets but inside the courtyard houses and hosseiniehs of the old quarters, some of them built for exactly that purpose, with mirrored halls and painted woodwork. Nowruz and Yalda are marked as they are everywhere in Iran, with picnics on the thirteenth day of the new year filling the parks and the valleys north of the city.

Craft traditions include carpet weaving in the province's villages, copperwork and the local style of baklava, which Qazvinis regard as distinct from every other. The city is also strongly associated with the Alamut valley and its Ismaili history, which draws walkers, climbers and Iranian visitors from Tehran at weekends; guides, drivers and guesthouses in the mountains are largely run from Qazvin. Persian is the everyday language, with Azerbaijani and Tati heard in parts of the province.

About 400,000 people live in the city, the capital of a province of roughly 1.3 million. Qazvin's economy is more industrial than its historic centre suggests: large estates along the Tehran highway make textiles, food products, glass, machinery and building materials, and the city's position two hours from the capital and on the line to the Caspian makes it a logistics centre. Farming on the surrounding plain produces grain, grapes, pistachios and, in the valleys, walnuts and cherries.

The rhythm is provincial and unhurried compared with Tehran. Shops open in the morning, many close during the hottest part of the afternoon in summer and reopen into the evening, and the bazaar keeps older hours than the newer shopping streets. Families walk on Sepah Street and in the parks after dark, and the weekend, on Thursday afternoon and Friday, takes people into the Alborz valleys or to relatives in the villages.

Students from the province's universities make up a visible part of the city, and many young people commute or move to Tehran for work, a drain the city notices. Water is the long-running concern: the plain depends on wells and its aquifer has been over-used, and drought years hurt farming. Inflation, housing costs and the effect of sanctions on industry are the other constant subjects, and the war that began in February 2026 has added disruption to travel and supply.

Qazvin's signature dish is gheimeh nesar, a celebration rice scattered with slivered almonds and pistachios, barberries and saffron over small pieces of lamb — sweeter and more decorative than everyday Iranian rice dishes, and traditionally served at weddings. Beyond it the city eats the standard repertoire of the plateau: chelow kabab with rice and grilled tomato, dizi or abgoosht at lunchtime in the bazaar, and herb stews such as ghormeh sabzi at home.

The province's own produce shapes the rest. The plain grows pistachios and grapes, the valleys north of the city grow walnuts, cherries and apples, and the mountain villages make dairy, honey and dried fruit that is sold along the Alamut road. Wild herbs gathered in spring go into soups and omelettes, and pickles and preserves are made in large quantities at home for the winter.

Sweets are the city's best-known export. Qazvini baklava is thinner and less syrupy than other versions, cut into diamonds and scented with cardamom and rosewater, and it is sold boxed as the customary gift to take from a visit here, alongside nougat, sohan and sugared almonds. Tea is drunk strong and black from small glasses at every hour, often in the vaulted tea rooms of the restored caravanserais in the bazaar.