Tabriz

Tabriz is an old city whose exact beginnings are uncertain, and its history is punctuated by earthquakes: disasters in 858, 1041 and 1721 destroyed it and each time it was rebuilt, which is why so little medieval fabric survives above ground. It was already a centre of trade on the routes between Iran, Anatolia and the Caucasus when the Mongols made it a capital of the Ilkhanate in the 13th century, and under them it became one of the great cities of Asia, visited by Marco Polo and described by travellers as an emporium of silk, gems and carpets.

The Turkmen Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu ruled from it in the 15th century, when the Blue Mosque was built, and in 1501 the young Ismail took the city and proclaimed the Safavid dynasty here. Ottoman armies seized Tabriz repeatedly, and the Safavids eventually moved their capital further inland to Qazvin and then Isfahan. Wars with Russia in the early 19th century ended with the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, which fixed the border on the Aras river and left Tabriz as Iran's gateway to Russia and Europe.

Under the Qajars it was the seat of the crown prince and the country's most outward-looking city, with the first printing press, early schools and consulates. It was the heart of the constitutional revolution of 1905-11, when the city held out under siege. A Soviet-backed government briefly ruled from Tabriz after the Second World War before Iranian forces returned in 1946. The city has since grown into a large industrial centre, and an earthquake in 2012 struck villages to its north-east.

Tabriz is the cultural capital of Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani Turkish is what people speak at home, in shops and in the bazaar, and Persian is the language of administration and school; most residents move between the two without thinking about it. The ashiq, a bard who sings narrative songs to the long-necked saz, is the region's characteristic musician, and Azerbaijani music, poetry and humour are a strong part of local identity, as is the poet Shahriar, who wrote in both languages and is buried in the city.

Pride in the city's history is explicit: its role in the constitutional revolution, its commercial reputation and its sweets and carpets are all cited by its inhabitants. Tabriz carpets, with dense knots and elaborate medallion designs, are among the best known in Iran, and the bazaar is as much a social institution as a marketplace, where negotiation begins with tea and conversation.

Football is followed intensely, above all Tractor, whose matches fill the city's stadium. Muharram mourning processions in Tabriz are among the largest anywhere in Iran and move through the bazaar quarter over several days. Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities, smaller than they once were, keep churches in the city, and Saint Mary's remains in use. Everyday manners are formal and commercial: greetings are elaborate, guests are pressed to eat, and taarof shapes every transaction.

About 1.7 million people live in Tabriz, making it the largest city of north-western Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan province. Its economy is genuinely industrial: factories on the edges of the city make machinery, vehicles and parts, tractors, cement, chemicals and processed food, while the bazaar handles wholesale trade for the whole north-west and carpets are woven both in the city and in surrounding villages. Cross-border trade with Turkey and the Caucasus matters a great deal.

Life runs on a provincial rhythm with an industrial edge: early starts, shops closing in the afternoon and reopening until late, and a bazaar that empties sharply at dusk. Winter dominates the year, with several months indoors, and summer evenings bring families out to El Goli, the parks and the slopes of Eynali. The weekend falls on Thursday afternoon and Friday, when people drive to the villages of Sahand or to relatives in the province.

Students from several large universities are a visible presence, and many young people leave for Tehran or abroad, a loss the city discusses openly. The other recurring subjects are the shrinking of Lake Urmia to the west, with its salt and dust storms and the damage to farming, water shortages, air quality, earthquake risk, inflation and the effect of sanctions on industry. The war that began in February 2026 has added disruption to flights, borders and supply.

Tabriz has one of Iran's most distinctive regional kitchens. Koofteh tabrizi is the emblem: a meatball the size of a small melon, made of minced lamb or beef with rice, yellow split peas and herbs, usually wrapped around egg, walnuts and dried fruit, and served with its broth and shredded sangak or lavash bread. Ash-e doogh, a yoghurt soup with herbs and chickpeas, belongs to the wider north-west, and dolma of vine leaves, aubergines and peppers is made in many versions.

Dairy and mountain produce are taken seriously. Lighvan cheese, a brined sheep's-milk cheese from a village on the slopes of Sahand, is sold across Iran and eaten here with flatbread, herbs and walnuts for breakfast. Honey from the high pastures, thick yoghurt, buttermilk and dried fruit from the orchards of the Aras valley and around Maragheh fill the food sections of the bazaar, and kebabs and dizi are the standard restaurant meals.

Sweets are what Tabriz is famous for elsewhere in Iran. Qurabiya almond cookies, nougat, rice-flour biscuits, sweet pastes of walnut and cardamom, and boxed confections of many kinds are made in the city and taken away as gifts by almost every visitor. Tea, drunk strong and black from small glasses with a sugar lump or a sweet held in the mouth, accompanies all of it, and the bazaar's tea houses are where deals and conversations are conducted.