Also, the word for a tile (kashi) comes from the name of the town. Tourists love this city because it has so much history and great buildings, Tehran-based English newspaper, Iran Daily, reported.
History
Archeological discoveries in the Sialk hillocks, which lie four kilometers west of Kashan, reveal that this region was one of the primary centers of civilization in prehistoric ages. Kashan dates back to Elamite era.
Sialk
The Sialk ziggurat still stands in the suburbs of Kashan after a lapse of 7,000 years.
The artifacts unearthed from Sialk hillocks are kept at Louvre Museum in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Museum of Iran.
Sialk and the surrounding areas are believed to have been the large water source that still runs today. Soleymanieh Spring has been bringing water to this area from nearby mountains for thousands of years. What remains of these 5,000-year-old ziggurats is not in a favorable condition like many other ancient ruins of Iran.
The two structures at Sialk are situated several hundred feet from each other.
While the three platforms of the larger ziggurat remain intact, not much remains of the smaller structure.
Experts believe Sialk dwellers made all of their tools with stone, but little by little they began to use metal for making their implements.
The artistry of these people is evident from the engravings on bones and designs on their pottery. As recent as 2007, a large pot was discovered inside the second perimeter of Sialk site with the mouth of the pot measuring 120 centimeters in diameter.
Tepe Sialk was first excavated by a team of European archeologists headed by Roman Ghirshman in the 1930s.
Jalali Fortress
Seljuk King Soltan Malik Shah I ordered construction of Qale'h Jalali, also known as Jalali Fortress, in the middle of Kashan in the 11th century CE. The fortress walls still stand in central Kashan.
Jalali Fortress is located on the edge of southern margin of the old wall of the city. As a matter of fact, the southern part of the wall and the fortress join up and forms just one piece.
Fin Garden
Kashan was also a leisure vacation spot for Safavid kings. Bagh-e Fin (Fin Garden) is one of the most famous gardens of Iran. This beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings have been substantially replaced and rebuilt by Qajar dynasty. The trees and marble basins are similar to the original ones.
Fin Garden was first founded alongside Soleymanieh Spring. The garden is also notorious as the scene of murder of Mirza Taqi Khan known as Amir Kabir, chancellor of Qajar King Nassereddin Shah, in 1852.
The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, leaving 8,000 casualties.
But the city was built again. Today, it has become a major tourist attraction in lights of its numerous historical houses left from the 18th and 19th centuries CE, illustrating the finest examples of Qajar aesthetics.
Qamsar and Abyaneh are notable towns around Kashan, which attract tourists throughout the year. The nearby town of Niasar, which boasts a man-made cave and fireplace, is of historical importance.
Kashan is internationally famous for its carpets, silk and other textiles. Today, the city has most of the country's mechanized carpet-weaving factories. In addition, it has active marble and copper mines.
Boroujerdi House
Boroujerdi House is a historic house in Kashan. President of UNESCO’s General Conference Hao Ping granted the top international rate to Boroujerdi House. During a visit to the historical buildings in Kashan in 2014 at the head of a delegation, he named Boroujerdi House as the most beautiful historical house in Asia. After receiving positive feedback from tourists, Boroujerdi House has been chosen as UNESCO's top choice in 2015.
Boroujerdi House was built in 1857 CE by architect Ali Maryam Kashani, for the bride of Haj Mehdi Boroujerdi, a wealthy merchant. The bride was from Tabatabaei family, for whom the architect had built Tabatabaei House several years earlier. It consists of a rectangular courtyard, delightful wall paintings by the artist of the royal court Kamal-ol-Molk, and three tall wind towers to cool the house. The house was constructed by 150 craftsmen during 18 years.
The house has all the classic signatures of Persian architecture. It has three entrances. The main entrance is in the form of an octagonal vestibule with multilateral skylights in the ceiling. There is a five-door chamber with intricate plasterwork. Walking through a narrow corridor, one reaches a vast rectangular courtyard that has a pool — lined by trees and green space.
There is a reception hall sandwiched between two rooms. Due to the high amount of sunlight entering these rooms, they were mostly used during the winter. The kitchen, rooms and stairways to the basement are located in the northeast area of the house.
The house is famous for its unusual wind towers, which are made of stone, brick, sun-baked bricks and a composition of clay, straw and mortar. Even the basements consistently benefit from the flow of cool air from the wind towers.
Boroujerdi House has attracted considerable attention of architects as well as Iranian and foreign scientific and technical teams.
It used to be a private home, Today, it is open to the public as a museum. The museum is divided into four sections including reception, ceremonies, residential halls and rooms
Ameriha House
Ameriha House (House of the Ameri family) is a traditional house in Kashan which was built during the Zand dynasty. It was later renovated in the mid 19th century during the Qajar era (1787-1921). The house is one of several large spectacular old houses in the central district of Kashan. Like the other historic houses around it, it was rebuilt after Kashan was ravaged by massive earthquakes in the 18th century.
This historical house has become a public museum in recent years.
Niasar
Niasar Fire Temple is a building with a dome over a rocky hill at the highest point of Niasar village, 28 km west of Kashan, which can be seen from a distance. It has remained intact since the time of Sassanid Dynasty. The road to Niasar is branches into two routes near the orchards of Niasar. The left route leads to the village and the right one goes past the stone mine to reach the fire temple.
The 14×14-meter building is a chamber-like structure without any walls and a dome over it. The fire temple has been made of stones bonded with mortar.
The stones used in the lower part of the building are ordinary ones and those used in the arches and in the upper parts are square-shaped. The lower parts of the building have been coated with plaster in recent years.
The main dome of the fire temple had collapsed long ago. Before the revolution, the dome and its slanting ceilings were reconstructed, thanks to the efforts of Colonel Bahonar from the Ministry of Culture and Art. However, the dome of the temple was modeled on Islamic domes while, according to the famous French archeologist, Andre Godard, the original dome was egg-shaped.
Around fire temples, there used to be other structures where Zoroastrian priests gathered for worship. Although it is not known whether this structure was used for this purpose, there are rows of stones near the fire temple, which are remnants of a building belonging to the Sassanid Era.
Niasar cave is manmade (except for one or two natural chambers near the entrance). There is no doubt that the cave was a place of worship.
Its first cut possibly dates back to the Partian era. Most Mitra temples like the Niasar cave have been built in full darkness. The cave also has other entrances, some of which open in a rocky area that separates the upper parts of Niasar from the lower neighborhoods. These entrances, which face the north along with the Niasar Waterfall, have created beautiful scenery.
Signs of water erosion on the rocks bear testimony to the fact that the cave had been a scenic area since times immemorial. At the base of the waterfall, there are two millstones while similar millstones can also be seen inside the cave.
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