Qazvin

Qazvin served as the Safavid capital from 1555 to 1598, the period before Shah Abbas the Great moved the seat of power to Isfahan. The city was chosen partly for its defensive position and partly because it lay closer to the Ottoman frontier that Shah Tahmasp feared — the same frontier that had forced the Safavids to abandon their original capital at Tabriz. Before the Safavids, Qazvin was already a significant city: the Buyid ruler Fakhr al-Dawla made it his capital in the 10th century, and its position on the ancient road between the Caspian coast and the Persian plateau gave it centuries of strategic importance.

The Chehel Sotoun Palace (not to be confused with Isfahan's more famous version) preserves some of the finest Safavid-era mural painting in Iran, depicting scenes of royal celebration and battle in brilliant pigments that have survived largely intact. Sa'd al-Saltaneh, the largest roofed caravanserai in Iran, was built in the late Qajar era and covers roughly 17,000 square metres of vaulted corridors and courtyard spaces, now occupied by workshops, teahouses and small shops. The Jame Mosque of Qazvin, parts of which date to the Seljuk period, spans nearly a thousand years of layered architectural interventions in a single complex.

Qazvin is famous throughout Iran for its baklava — a style distinct from Turkish or Lebanese versions, made with noticeably thicker pastry layers and scented with rosewater and cardamom, sold in dedicated shops throughout the bazaar that have operated for generations. The city's bazaar specialises in dried fruits, nuts and the distinctive Qazvin walnut, considered among the finest in the country, sold alongside artisanal honey from the Alborz foothills where beekeeping has been practised for centuries. The Takestan district to the west produces some of Iran's best table grapes and raisins, and the surrounding villages are known for small-batch fruit vinegars — including pomegranate and grape varieties — used extensively in traditional Persian cooking. Qazvin's historic Ali Qapu teahouse, inside Sa'd al-Saltaneh caravanserai, is one of the oldest continuously operating teahouses in Iran.

The Alamut Valley, home to the ruins of Hassan-i Sabbah's 11th-century Ismaili fortress, is the most popular excursion from Qazvin — roughly 1.5 hours by road through increasingly dramatic mountain gorges and walnut orchards. Ovan Lake, a remote alpine lake perched above the Alamut Valley at over 2,000 metres, extends the trip into a full day with exceptional views and near-total solitude accessible only on foot from Garmarud village. The Taleghan Valley, known for its terraced orchards, traditional guesthouses and a large reservoir, makes a gentler half-day alternative for travellers who prefer pastoral scenery. The ancient caravanserai town of Saveh, southeast of Qazvin, preserves a Seljuk-era Friday Mosque regarded as one of the finest in northwestern Iran.

Qazvin, a former Safavid capital, holds understated treasures. The Chehel Sotoun Pavilion (a Safavid royal building, now a calligraphy museum) sits in a garden at the city's heart. The Jameh Mosque layers Seljuk, Safavid and later work over a Sassanid-era core. The atmospheric Sa'd al-Saltaneh Caravanserai is one of Iran's best-preserved urban caravanserais, now full of tea houses and craft stalls. The Aminiha Hosseiniyeh reveals an exquisite Qajar merchant house, and the Peighambariyeh Shrine honours Old Testament prophets. Qazvin is also the natural staging point for trips into the Alamut Valley and its castles.