Kermanshah

Kermanshah, Cradle of Civilization and Tourism

Kermanshah, the largest Kurdish speaking city of Iran, is one of the most beautiful cities and the ninth most populous one, located in the western part of Iran.

Kermanshah is a four season area and is appropriate for tourism destination in this case. People can experience different kinds of weather in different parts of the province in any season of the year. And this feature provides opportunities for Medical Tourism activities.

From historical perspective, it can be claimed that the most important sculptures of Iran are in this province. And from the other perspective, natural sites of Kermanshah are widely various and unique in their cases. But the thing which distinguishes Kermanshah from other parts of Iran is the peaceful life of people with great variety of cultures and religious tendencies and also linguistic differences. These differences and the other item, colorful and eye-grabbing clothing are undeniable factors that make tourist visit this province enthusiastically.

History

Kermanshah can be considered as “The Lost Paradise” for Paleolithic studies in the Middle East. There is some evidence obtained from ancient caves in Kermanshah which indicates living Neanderthals in this province. According to the discovery of many ancient hills in Kermanshah, numerous magnificent remains and monuments related to different historical periods have been found that our compelling evidence. The discovered objects from Sheikhi-Abad and Ganj-Darre hills indicate that Kermanshah is the first region in the Middle East in which ruralization (settlement) has begun and it has been the starting point of expansion to other regions. Entering the historical era, Kermanshah was considered as a strategic center by different dynasties and emperors. The obvious example is Anobanini petroglyph in Sarpol-e-Zahab which dates back to 4500 years ago, and influenced Dariush the Great to create the masterpiece of Bisotun inscription 2000 years later. Also remains from Medians, Achaemenes, Parthians monuments (that are unique in Iran) and the peak of all these glories is seen and felt in Sassanid era are the other evidence confirming our claim. There are lots of remains including palaces and rock reliefs in Kermanshah which the most important and the most glorious of them is Tagh-e-Bostan at the heart of the Kermanshah city shining as a seventeen-century year star!

After entering Islam, Kermanshah was invaded by some groups such as Mongols, and at least by beginning Safavid era, Kermanshah entered its new phase of urbanism and the peak of glory of urbanism was in Qajar era with a lot of remains from that period. In contemporary history, Kermanshah has played an undeniable role in historical identity of Iran; in the World War I, the World War II, the Constitutional Revolution and finally the Iran-Iraq War.

Souvenir

There are various handicrafts in all parts of the province but the most famous of them is “Kilim/ Glim” which has received World Registration. The other significant handicraft is “Giveh/Give”, a traditional foot wearing with colorful designs which has a lot of fans even among young people.

The other handicraft is Namad (Felt carpet) with 10/000 years of history and awesome usage-even medical usage in bone pain). People also wear Namad clothing in winters to feel warm, and wear it in summers to feel cool. That’s the magic of Namad.  

Transporter

Kermanshah benefits from a good transportation system; the airport, the railway and the bus terminal that regularly transfer travelers and passengers especially to Tehran and other important cities. By the way, its urban transportation system like the other cities of Iran use taxi and van to transfer citizens.

National Heritage List of Iran

There are more than 4000 historical monuments in Kermanshah province and about 2000 of them have been listed as National Heritages. The World Heritage Site of Bisotoon which is the largest inscription in Iran and Known as “The inscription of Dariush the Great” is one of the important tourism attraction items of the province.  “Tagh_e_Bostan” historical site is the other glorious historical attraction which is in the list of National Heritages. Moreover, most of the historical sites and monuments are in the heart of natural sites and this feature offers good looking scenes to visitors.