Mashhad al-Reza, Spiritual Capital of Iran

SepidehAfsharRezaee

Translated by Shiva Shakib

Mashhad City plays a significant role in both producing and exporting areas of Iran. Hence, we intend to discuss on a number of major fields of activity in this city with the aim of making you familiar with these products on the one hand and to show how they contribute to boosting the export potential of Iran.

Productivity of Diverse Commodities

Mashhad enjoys extensive fertile lands for agriculture, animal husbandriesand industrial capabilities. Today, the economic foundation of Mashhad city is mostly based on saffron, barberry, crystal candy, nuts, industrial leather and carpet-weaving industry. Actually weaving rugs has quite a long history of over 5 centuries in Mashhad. Meanwhile, Mashhad gains a considerable income through the pilgrims who come from various parts of the world to visit the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and all the tourists who go to this city. As a matter of fact in average around 32 million pilgrims visit this city every year.

In the field of farming, since Mashhad has extensive agricultural lands, then wheat, barley, beetroot, sugar beet, cotton plant, pasture, vegetables, fruits such as apple, pear, peach, tomato, and berryare among its important products.  The farming lands in Mashhad have a high potential for the growth of diverse medical herbs and pave the way for the growth of industries like food, steel, textile manufacturing, and chemicals. Among the religious locations, Mashhad is one of the most powerful spots for attraction of tourists in the international world.

Mashhad is close to Central Asia and therefore it hosts several international exhibitions in diverse regions.

Mashhad and Tourism, Historical and Architectural Attractions 

The Khorasan Province is the greatest religious tourism hub in Iran; covering many mausoleums and architectural buildings as well.

Among the religious places of Mashhad are famous mosques such as the MolaHeidar, Ziba and Gohar-Shad mosques. Although many of the historical monuments have been destroyed, the remaining ones mostly go back to the eight century and especially in the historical city of Tus. There are many temples and tombs in the suburbs of Mashhad; for instance the tomb of the Nader Shah and Ferdowsi, the great epical poet. The Naderi engraving located outside the Naderi Castle is written in the Turkish language and in calligraphy within a mountain.

Several famous historical schools which enjoy architectural values are in Mashhad, as some of them are the MirzaJa’far School, NavabMirza School, Mola Mohammad Bagher and Haji Rezvan for instance.

There are many museums in the city of Mashhad; the Museums of Astan Quds Razavi, the Stamp Museum, the Quran Museum, the Anthropology Museum, the Science and Natural History Museum among many others.

Souvenirs of Mashhad

The most important souvenir of Mashhad is saffron, mixed spice (this spice is a mixture of cinnamon, sumac, cow-parsnip powder, ginger, black pepper, red pepper, turmeric), rice spice, barberry, candy, crystal candy, various nuts (including plums, figs, cardamom, dried mulberry, raisins and peas)in addition to various handicrafts like gold, turquoise jewelry, shoes, in addition to various prayer rugs and rosaries.