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UNESCO and dynasties

Persian culture

Persia, the historical name of nowadays Iran, comes from the Greek word "Parsa" (a region in southwestern Iran now called Fars province) first used by Alexander The Great after invading the region. It was in 1935 that Reza Shah Pahlavi asked foreign delegates to use the name 'Iran', derived from 'ērān', a term originally used in 3rd-century Sassanid dynasty referring to lands inhabited by Aryans.

Iran was once the heart of the Persian empire with great dynasties such as the Achaemenids (559-330 BC), Savafid period and Qajar that all left their historical marks. Throughout the centuries the capital changed from Shiraz, Qazvin or Isfahan to nowadays Tehran. Lots of historical buildings and gardens remind us of the great cultural past these empires once had, and many of them are now on the UNESCO heritage list - with some still waiting to be recognised.

Persian dynasties
  • Elamite dynasties (2700–539 BC)
  • 2: Median Empire (728–550 BC)
  • 3: Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BC)
  • 4: Parthian Empire (250 BC– 226)
  • 5: Sassanid dynasty (226–650)
  • 6: Tahirid dynasty (821–873)
  • 7: Saffarid dynasty (861–1003)
  • 8: Samanid dynasty (875–999)
  • 9: Buwayhid dynasty (934–1055)
  • 10: Ghaznavid Empire (963–1187)
  • 11: Seljukid Empire (1037–1194)
  • 12: Khwarezmid dynasty (1077–1231)
  • 13: Ilkhanate (1256–1353)
  • 14: Timurid Empire (1370–1506)
  • 15: Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans (1378–1508)
  • 16: Safavid Empire (1501–1736)
  • 17: Afsharid dynasty (1736–1802)
  • 18: Zand dynasty (1750–1794)
  • 19: Qajar dynasty (1781–1925)
  • 20: Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)
  • 21: Islamic Republic of Iran (1980–present)
Persian dynasties
dynasties explained
Achaemenid

648–330 BC (Cyrus)

Sassanid

226–650

Safavid

1501–1736

Zand

1750–1794

Afsharid and Qajar

1736–1802 and 1781–1925

Pahlavi

1925–1979

Iranian Revolution

1979-1980

US vs Iran

present

travel stories

Click below to read my stories highlighting the dynasties.

travel stories
end of dynasties
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi click on image above to watch video

In 1971 Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi organised a lavish tent party at Persepolis to celebrate the 2500 year anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. At this highly exclusive party many world leaders were invited - and dazzled by the etaled luxury.

In the meantime domestic opposition claimed the Shah's 1963 White Revolution wasn't showing results fast enough whilst clergy critised his Westernisation - with the seventies oilcrisis as catalyst for the economical downfall. Along with his harsh autocratic ruling, enormous personal wealth and corruption this celebration fueled the nationwide protests.

In 1978 a fire at a cinema complex killing 400 people was used by supporters of Khomeini - a renowned cleric exiled by the Shah and leading the opposition - to aggrevate the riots. Finally the Shah fled his country in 1979. Two weeks later Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and founded the Islamic Republic of Iran - thus ending 2500 years of dynasties.

UNESCO heritage list
UNESCO heritage


Click above on the corresponding number of the map to know more about the location.


  Bisotun (Kermanshah)

  • archaeological site with the bas-relief of Darius the Great when he became king of the Persian Empire (521 BC)
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Susa

  • superimposed urban settlements from 5000 BC until the 1300's
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  historical hydraulic system (Shushtar)

  • marvellous engineering of Darius the Great in 500 BC
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Tchogha Zanbil (Susa)

  • ruins of the holy city of the Kingdom of Elam in 1250 BC
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Meidan Emam (Naqsh-e-Jahan Square Isfahan)

  • one of the largest city squares in the world and an outstanding example of Iranian and Islamic architecture built in the 17th century by Shah Abbas the Great
  • read my travel story
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Jameh or Masjed-e Jāmé Mosque (Isfahan)

  • the Mosque, that took twelve centuries to be completed, covers over 20.000 m2 and is the first Islamic building adapting the four-courtyard layout of Sassanid palaces to Islamic religious architecture
  • read my travel story
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  historic city of Yazd

  • intelligent use of limited available resources in the desert with a qanat system developed to draw underground water
  • read my travel story
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Sassanid archaeological landscape (Fars region)

  • eight archaeological sites with fortified structures, palaces and city plans of the Sassanian Empire (226 to 650 BC)
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Persepolis (Shiraz)

  • palace complex and royal city built in 518 BC by Darius the Great
  • read my travel story
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Pasargadae

  • earliest capital of the Achaemenid in 600 BC
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Persian gardens (in red)

  • nine gardens in nine provinces showing the diversity of evolved designs adapted to different climate conditions
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  cultural landscape of Maymand (Kerman)

  • agro-pastoralist villagers practicing a highly specific three phase regional variation of transhumance that reflects the dry desert environment
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Armenian monastic ensembles of Iran (Jolfa)

  • three monasteries showing universal value of the Armenian architectural and decorative traditions
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  historic Bazaar complex (Tabriz)

  • capital during Safavid and commercial center on the Silk Road showing the traditional and cultural trade systems
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Sheikh Safi al-din Khanegah (Ardabil)

  • place of spiritual retreat in the Sufi tradition using Iranian traditional architectural forms
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Takht-e Soleyman (Takah)

  • Zoroastrian sanctuary partly rebuilt in the Mongol period (1300) and a temple of the Sasanian period (6-700)
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Soltaniyeh (Zanjan)

  • octagonal mausoleum constructed in 1302
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Golestan palace (Tehran)

  • majestic architectural masterpiece of the Qajar era (1781–1925)
  • read my travel story
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Gonbad-e Qabus (Gorgan)

  • 53 meter high tomb built in 1006 BC
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Hyrcanian forests

  • a unique forested massif stretching along the Caspian Sea dating back 25 to 50 million years
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Persian qanat (Yazd, Kerman, Kashan)

  • ancient qanat system of tapping alluvial aquifers at the heads of valleys and conducting the water along underground tunnels by gravity
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Dasht-e Lut desert (Kerman)

  • spectacular examples of aeolian yardang landforms
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Bam and its cultural landscape (Kerman)

  • fortified town built during Achaemenid period (600 to 400 BC) in vernacular technique using mud layers
  • image and description on the UNESCO website


  Shahr-i Sokhta (Zahedan)

  • mudbrick city founded around 3200 BC representing the emergence of the first complex societies
  • image and description on the UNESCO website
  • other: cultural landscape (Hawraman and Uramanat) and the Trans-Iranian Railway
  • note: many places are still to be recognised (tentative list)
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