Qualla: Bazaar of Arak

Bazaar of Arak: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Amingt1998, CC BY-SA 4.0. Every Iranian city has a bazaar, but not every bazaar was designed to be a city's reason for existing. In Arak, the bazaar came first. When Yusef Khan-e Gorji laid out the new settlement of Sultan Abad under the reign of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar in the early 19th century, he built the marketplace at its exact center, then let the city grow outward from it. The result is a bazaar unlike most others in Iran: where Tehran's Grand Bazaar meanders in organic curves, Arak's runs in straight, symmetrical lines, a chessboard of commerce stamped into the heart of the city.

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Image: Amingt1998 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bazaar of Arak: A City Built Around Its Market

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Behnam Minaei, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sultan Abad -- the original name for Arak -- was constructed as a planned settlement, and the bazaar was both its commercial engine and its geometric blueprint. Two main axes cross at the Chahar Soogh, meaning "four bazaars," where a small stone pool marks the intersection. From ...

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Image: Behnam Minaei | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bazaar of Arak: Bricks, Copper, and Clever Air

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Amingt1998, CC BY-SA 4.0. The architecture is practical and deliberate. Walls are built from brick reinforced with wooden joists set in clay, their column bases sheathed in copper and lead. The vaulted ceilings create a microclimate that keeps the interior cool in summer and warm in winter, a feature comm...

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Image: Amingt1998 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bazaar of Arak: Carpets, Dried Fruit, and Revolution

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Javad mirhoseini, CC BY-SA 4.0. The economic engine that justified Sultan Abad's construction was the region's extraordinary agricultural output and, above all, the Sarouk Persian carpet. These handwoven rugs, prized for their dense pile and intricate medallion patterns, brought international demand to a settle...

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Image: Javad mirhoseini | CC BY-SA 4.0

Bazaar of Arak: Where Commerce Meets Dissent

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Behnam Minaei, CC BY-SA 4.0. Iranian bazaars have always been more than marketplaces. They are social crossroads where ethnic groups mingle, supply and demand take shape through face-to-face negotiation, and -- critically -- political movements find their footing. During the Iranian Constitutional Revolution...

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Image: Behnam Minaei | CC BY-SA 4.0