Salmiya

A couple of months ago, a friend sent me a picture of the Zayandeh Rud in Esfahan which had more or less vanished at that time. A dam west of the city had been closed in the summer because of the severe drought in recent years. The water, which in any case evaporates in the desert in the Batlaq-e Gaykhunia, a huge marsh area about one hundred kilometers east of Esfahan, was urgently needed for agriculture. When I visited Esfahan in December, the riverbed was filled again, even though not to levels I had seen before. The bridges over the river are world-famous. The river banks are carefully gardened, beautiful parks in the tradition of Persian Paradise gardens. They invite to stroll, rest, meet other people, let the children play, have a picnic. In fact, you may see married and even unmarried couples (although, you'll never know). It is a six kilometers walk from Marnan Bridge in the west to Sharestan Bridge in the east, but when the weather is fine, a very pleasant trip. ...

On several occasions I have described my 2005 journey through Central Iran which took me from Tehran to the holy city of Qom , Kashan , Abyaneh and Natanz , and then again to the beautiful city of Esfahan. If there was a special coat of arms for Esfahan it should contain the very characteristic pigeon towers which can be seen when entering the wide planes of the huge city. The towers from the Safavid era in the 17th century attract large numbers of pigeons which will hatch in the towers producing lots of dung which can be collected and used as fertilizer. The river flowing through Esfahan is not seasonal as so many others in Iran. Zayandeh Rud originates in the Zagros mountains west of Esfahan and flows to the east where it disappears after about 400 km in a salt marsh, the Gavkhouni swamp in the near-by desert. Since all the pollution of the Esfahan's larger municipality arrives here and water simply evaporates, this ecosystem is highly endangered, of course. The river itself is ...