Qualla: Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins https://qualla.com/qazvin en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins https://qualla.com/qazvin Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: Introduction https://qualla.com/qazvin/ The English word 'assassin' traces its roots to a mountain fortress visible from the outskirts of Qazvin. In the late 11th century, Hasan-e Sabbah seized the castle of Alamut in the Alborz Mountains north of the city and from there directed a network of political killings that terrorized the Seljuk Empire for nearly two centuries. The Mongols eventually destroyed Alamut in 1256, but its legend endured - and so did Qazvin. This city of roughly 400,000 sits at the edge of the Iranian plateau where it rises into the Alborz range, and its nine thousand years of archaeological evidence make it one of the oldest continuously settled places in Iran. Qazvin has been a Sassanid garrison town, a Safavid capital, and the place that built Iran's first modern street. It collects superlatives the way old cities collect dust.

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: Nine Thousand Years of Rubble https://qualla.com/qazvin/ Archaeological excavations in and around Qazvin have uncovered artifacts dating back roughly nine millennia, placing its earliest settlements among the oldest in the Iranian plateau. In the middle of the modern city lie the ruins of Meimoon Ghal'eh, a Sassanid-era fortification t...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--nine-thousand-years-of-rubble.mp3 0:06 2 full Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: Capital of the Safavid Empire https://qualla.com/qazvin/ In 1555, Shah Tahmasp I moved the Safavid capital from Tabriz to Qazvin, seeking distance from the Ottoman border. For forty years, Qazvin was the center of the Persian world. The Ali Qapu mansion, today a museum in central Qazvin, survives from this era - a modest echo of the gr...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--capital-of-the-safavid-empire.mp3 0:06 3 full Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: A Catalog of Iranian Firsts https://qualla.com/qazvin/ Qazvin stakes an unusual claim: it was where modern Iran rehearsed its entrance. Sepah Street, laid out in the late 19th century, is recognized as the first modern paved street in Iran. The Grand Hotel, built during the same era, was the country's first modern hotel. The city est...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--a-catalog-of-iranian-firsts.mp3 0:06 4 full Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: Calligraphy and Cuisine https://qualla.com/qazvin/ Qazvin is known as the calligraphy capital of Iran, a reputation earned largely through Mir Emad Qazvini, the late 16th and early 17th-century master whose nastaliq script remains the gold standard for Persian calligraphy. The poet Ubayd Zakani, famous for his satirical works, al...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--calligraphy-and-cuisine.mp3 0:06 5 full Qazvin: The City of Firsts and the Fortress of the Assassins: Gateway to the Mountains https://qualla.com/qazvin/ The real draw of Qazvin lies north, in the Alborz. Day trips into the mountains lead to the reconstructed ruins of Alamut Castle, perched on a rock outcrop at about 2,100 meters. The reconstruction, completed around 2013, has drawn criticism from archaeologists, but the setting r...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/7/w/qazvin-wk/tn7w-qazvin-the-city-of-firsts-and-the-fortress-of-the--gateway-to-the-mountains.mp3 0:06 6 full