Sightseeing places in Qazvin; Attractions and places to see + photo and address

Qazvin is one of the big cities of Iran and the capital of Qazvin province. Traces of different political and cultural eras can be seen everywhere in Qazvin. This city was the capital of the country for 57 years during the Safavid rule. Qazvin is the capital of Iran’s calligraphy and with a diverse collection of palaces, mosques, caravanserais and old urban spaces, it is considered a suitable option for tourists interested in history and architecture. Qazvin is located in the communication bottleneck of the northern and western provinces of the country; So you should not neglect its sights. If you want to get acquainted with the most important sights of Qazvin and the characteristics of each, stay with us in the rest of this article.

The Qazvin market complex is one of the sights of Qazvin, which was built during the Safavid era as the capital of this city. During the Qajar era, they developed this market and several caravanserais, sera and timcheh were added to it. During 9 centuries, there was a shift from south to north in this bazaar, in which Qazvin Grand Mosque was separated from the fabric of the bazaar. Among the remaining parts of the Qazvin market, we can mention Qazvin’s Qaysiriyah, which has brick arches and a very high height. The Qazvin market has four doors, one of which opens to the soldier’s timche, the other to the covered timche, in the east to the minister’s palace, and the other door opens to a small square.

Photographer: M4hdiyeh a / Wikimedia

The most important parts of this bazaar are Masjid al-Nabi, Sarai Saad al-Sultaneh, Sarai Wazir, Sarai Haj Reza, Sarai Razavi, Sarai Khoshnoisan, Timche Sarzab, Timche Sarposhedeh, Timche Seyed Kazem, Timche Haj Mohammad Taqi, Sarai Shah, Sarai Naqd Ali, Sarai Haj Mohammad Baqer, Sarai Dalan Daraz, Sarai Zarabkhaneh, Sarai Nagar al-Sultaneh, Sarai Beheshti, Bazaar He pointed to Qaysarieh, Sadia’s Garma, Razavi’s Garma, and Garhami’s yard. This historical work was registered in the list of national works of Iran on January 5, 1356 with number 1021.

Al-Nabi Mosque in Qazvin is located on the south side of Imam Khomeini Street, in line with Qazvin Bazaar, and congregational prayers and Friday prayers are still held there. However, tourists can also visit it. Like Qazvin Jame Mosque, this mosque also has a hall which is a gathering place for people. The area of ​​Masjid al-Nabi is about 14,000 square meters and has wide courtyards and naves, and its architecture is unique in its kind. This mosque was built during the Qajar era and by the order of Fath Ali Shah in the Wazir’s compound or the Wazir’s Pit, which was one of the endowments of Agha Jamal Wazir.

Photographer: Unknown / Google Map

This mosque has three entrances (north, east and west), each of which has a magnificent front. The northern pediment is decorated with enameled and styled tiles and its inscription is made of lapis lazuli tiles in Nastaliq script. In the inscriptions of the east and west porches, the blessed surah “Um Yitzailun an al-Naba al-Azeem” is engraved, and in the inscriptions of the north and south porches, the blessed surah “Hal Ati Ali al-Insan Hain Man Al-Dahr” is engraved. Al-Nabi Mosque of Qazvin was registered on the 15th of January 1310 with number 122 in the list of national works of Iran and is considered one of the sights of Qazvin.

The Forty Seton Museum Palace or Shah Tahmasb’s Kolah Ferangi Palace is one of the most important historical monuments and places of interest in Qazvin, which dates back to the Safavid era and is located in the center of the city, in Azadi Square (Sabzeh Square). It is said that this building is the only remaining pavilion of the royal palaces of Shah Tahmasb. When Qazvin was the capital, this mansion was called Kalafarangi. Paintings from the Safavid period are stored in this museum.

Photographer: Behnam Minaei / Wikimedia

Shah Tahmasab Safavi moved the capital from Tabriz to Qazvin in 951 AH and ordered the prominent architects of the country to build a square-shaped garden and build magnificent mansions, halls, porches and beautiful ponds in it. It is said that Shah Tahmasb built this building from the plan of a Turkish architect with a very small checkered style, which has very beautiful and delicate wooden windows. During the Qajar era, Mohammad Baqer Saad al-Sultaneh, the then governor of Qazvin, rebuilt this mansion and from then on it was named Chehlsetun. Qazvin’s Forty Column Mansion was registered in Iran’s National Monuments List with number 389 in 1334.

Rafi Church is located on Taleghani Street in Qazvin and in the courtyard of a school with the same name. This church was built during the first Pahlavi period, in the area of ​​this school, which was an educational and worship center for Armenians living in Qazvin for a long time. The brick building of this church has a plan based on cruciform axes and its main space is rectangular and has four columns. The altar of the church is located on the eastern side and is separated from the prayer hall by a few steps.

Photographer: Unknown / adyannews.com

Hammam Qajar is one of the famous places of Qazvin and one of the old hot springs of this city. It was built in 1057 AH by Amir Gohan Khan Qajar Qazvini, one of the generals of Shah Abbas Safavi, and at first it was called “Royal Bath”. This bath has an area of ​​about 1045 square meters and consists of three main parts: Sarbineh, Miander and Garmkhaneh.

Photographer: Alireza Kikha / Kojaro

The female and male parts of this bathroom are separate. The main door of the bathroom faces south and leads to Serbineh with a spiral staircase. The large Sarbineh of Garmaba, with a beautiful pond in the middle, connects 6 palaces and arches in an octagonal plan with a corridor to Garmkhaneh.

In 1379, the cultural heritage and tourism organization bought this historical building, and Qazvin Municipality managed the renovation and improvement organization and took over the cost of its restoration. Today, this bathroom has been turned into an anthropological museum (in three sections of tribes, customs and occupations). This work was registered in the list of national works of Iran on 11 August 2004 with number 12601.

Cantor Church is another sight-seeing place in Qazvin, which is known as the smallest Orthodox church in Iran and the third smallest church in the world. Kanto in Russian means headquarters or center. This church was built during the occupation of Iran by the Russians during World War II and is also known as “Bell Tower”. The entrance of this church is located on its western side, which includes an entrance space with a sloping roof and an entrance door.

Photographer: unknown / mohabatnews.com

Qazvin Jame Mosque, also known as Jame Atiq Mosque and Jame Kabir Mosque, is one of the largest mosques in Iran and one of the most important sights in Qazvin, which is said to be the oldest Jame Mosque built in Iran. The first building of this mosque was built on fire temples from the Sassanid era, in the style of four porches. The fire temple was in the south porch of the current mosque. Harun al-Rashid ordered the construction of this mosque in 192 AH; During the Mongol attack on Iran, a part of the Jame Mosque was destroyed; But they restored it very soon.

Photographer: unknown / shabestan.news

In Qazvin Grand Mosque, we see the architectural works of several different periods; Its oldest part belongs to the second Islamic century. During the Safavid period, the porches were restored, but the eastern porch was restored during the Qajar period. In the year 500 AH, it was built on the south side of the mosque of Maqsura Khamartashi by the order of Amir Khamartash Ibn Abdullah Emadi, the minister of Sultan Malik Shah Seljuqi. In May 1392, the western minaret of the mosque was restored and the stone and pottery museum started working in the western Shabestan. Qazvin Jame Mosque was registered in the list of national monuments of Iran on December 15, 1310 with number 121.

Bagh Sepehdar mansion is located at the end of West Palestine Street in Qazvin city, which is one of the historical houses related to the Qajar era in this city. Here is the house of Muhammad Wali Khan Sepehsalar Tenkabi, nicknamed Sepehdar Azam, one of the famous Qajar period men, which today is known as one of the must-see places in Qazvin. It is said that this house was built between 1323 and 1327 AH. The construction of this building was inspired by Shah Tahmasb’s Kolah Ferangi mansion (Qazvin’s forty-stun palace) and Qazvin’s large guest house.

Photographer: Omid Hendupur / Wikimedia

During the First World War, Russian and British soldiers used this house, and later, due to the property owner’s tax debt to the government, the mansion was taken over by the government. This building consists of two floors, the first floor contains several rooms (with service use), corridor and a central hall. On the second floor, there are a number of rooms and a rectangular hall. Sepahdar Garden Mansion of Qazvin was registered in the list of national monuments of Iran on March 3rd of 1377, with number 2227.

Sardar Bozor Reservoir is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Qazvin, which was built in 1191 AH (1227 AH-1812 AD) in “Rah Ri” neighborhood of this city. This reservoir is the largest single dome reservoir in Iran and even in the world. This building has a tall brick dome and skylights are installed on its brick body. Two brothers named Mohammad Hasan Khan and Mohammad Hossein Khan, one of the nobles and generals of the time of Fath Ali Shah, Mohammad Shah and Naseruddin Shah, were the founders of this building with such special and unique features.

Photographer: Unknown / Google Map

The traditional gardens of Qazvin refer to a collection of gardens that are spread in the southern half of Qazvin city. These traditional gardens are more than a thousand years old and are considered green souvenirs of our ancestors in this region. Even Nasser Khosrow, in his trip to Qazvin, mentions the traditional gardens of Qazvin like this:

He had many gardens; There were no walls or thorns and there was no obstacle to enter the gardens.

Photographer: Unknown / Google Map

The area of ​​these gardens is more than 2,500 hectares and in the past they surrounded the city. Because these gardens are irrigated in the traditional way, i.e. flooded, they are called traditional gardens.

Aminiha’s house and Hosseiniyeh is one of the historical, beautiful and noble houses in Qazvin city, which dates back to the Qajar era and is one of the famous places in Qazvin today. This house was built by Haj Mohammadreza Amini, one of the merchants of Qazvin, in 1275 AH. At that time, they spent about 48 thousand tomans to build this house.

Photographer: Unknown / ifpnews.com

This mansion has three halls and two courtyards (north and south). The halls are built parallel to each other, from east to west and between the two courtyards, and have very beautiful sashes, which were raised when praying, and the halls were integrated. In the middle of the great hall, there were 40 lamps hanging and its carpets were one-board and antique. The ceiling of the halls has paintings, mirror work, decorated bowl shelves (niches), plastering and wooden knotting. Cellar, basement, pantry and storage are other parts of this mansion.

Sarai Saad al-Sultaneh is the largest indoor covered caravanserai of a city in Iran, which was ordered to be built by the ruler of Qazvin, namely Saad al-Sultaneh, during the Qajar era (the end of the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar). Chaharsouk is the most valuable part of this building, which is created from the vertical intersection of two rows and the large tiled dome is located on top of it; On the four sides of the dome, there are four semi-domes with formalization and skylights, which makes the space appear bigger.

Photographer: unknown / ilna.ir

This palace has an area of ​​more than 6.2 hectares. Today, many parts of this palace have been renovated and improved and are under the supervision of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. Sarai Saad al-Sultaneh was registered in the list of national monuments of Iran on August 11, 1357, with number 2089, and it is undoubtedly one of the most valuable places to visit in Qazvin.

Spring in Qazvin, with mild weather and liveliness of urban spaces, is the perfect time to visit the historical buildings and open spaces of the city. Among the sightseeing places of Qazvin in spring, we can mention the following:

• Alamut Castle
• The Safavid government complex
• Historical house of Zaim
• Forty Seton Museum Palace

Photographer: Erfan Teymouri / unsplash.com

Qazvin summers are hot; But visiting the indoor spaces and cultural attractions of the city will still be attractive and practical. Among the sights of Qazvin in summer, we can mention the following:

• Saad al-Sultaneh Caravanserai
• Sepahdar mansion and garden
• Barajin Forest Park
• Zargar village

Photographer: Erfan Akbari / unsplash.com

With the decrease in temperature and the calmer mood of the city, autumn provides a good opportunity for sightseeing and photographing the historical monuments of Qazvin. Among the sightseeing places of Qazvin in autumn, we can mention the following:

• Hosseinieh Aminiha
• Kantor Church
• Al-Nabi Mosque in Qazvin
• The Safavid government complex

Photographer: Sepehr Behnamifar / unsplash.com

Qazvin winters are cold; But the covered historical attractions and cultural spaces of the city are still considered suitable options for visiting. Among the tourist attractions of Qazvin in winter, we can mention the following:

• Gajr bath
• Qazvin Grand Mosque
• Saad al-Sultaneh palace
• Sardar Bozur Reservoir

Photographer: Saeed Sarshar / unsplash.com

The nights of Qazvin with the lighting of historical monuments and the peaceful atmosphere of the city are suitable for walking and short-term visits to some attractions. Among the sights of Qazvin at night, we can mention the following:

• Qazvin market
• Sepeh St
• Saad al-Sultaneh palace
• The Safavid government complex

Photographer: Mojtaba Mohammadi / unsplash.com

If you are planning to travel to Qazvin or want to get to know more about the attractions of this historical city, in the rest of this article, you can see the complete list of Qazvin attractions and choose your travel plan more precisely.