Hamedan

Iran cultural tour, Iran Safari, Iran cultural safari, Iran hunting safari, Iran, Iran safari, Iran hunting, safari, hunting safari, Hunting in Iran, Red Sheep, Urial Sheep in Iran, Eurasian Wild Boar, Trans Caspian Sheep, Asian Brown Bear, Iranian Goitered Gazelle, ranian Trans Caspian Urial, Isfahan Sheep, Common Fox, Ibex hunting in Iran, Laristan Sheep, Armenian Sheep, Persian shikar (hunting), Wild Boar in Iran, Bird Shooting in Iran, Kerman Sheep, Iran Tourism and Tour to Iran and travel to Iran, tour and Travel agency, Tour operator, cultural, adventure, trekking, ski, nomads, packages, visa, transportation, hotel reservation, camel riding, domestic flight, CIP, services for traveller to Iran, Iran, inbound, outbound, Iran tours, Tourism, Travel, reservations, Information, History, Persia, Persian, Tourisms, Tours, Tour to Iran, Travel to Iran, Tourism, Tour Agency, Travel Agency, Historical, Cultural, Tour operators, travel guides, Fars, Farsi, persian, vacation, hotels, destinations, flights, travel packages, travel destinations, Iran Tourism and Tour to Iran and travel to Iran, Iran tour and Travel agency, Tour operator, Iran cultural safari, Iran travel, travel to Iran, Iran culture, cultural tour, Iran cultural travel, Iran cultural, Iran tour, Iran culture travel and tour, Iran safari, Iran hunting safari, Iran hunting, Iran cultural and hunting tour, Iran trip, Iran tour and travel agency, Iran culture, cultural, culture, culture safari Iran hunting trip, cultural travel to Iran, tour, tour to Iran, tour package culture tour in Iran, Iran old culture, hunting sheep

Hamedan, also spelled HAMADAN, ancient Ecbatana, city, west-central Iran, at the northeastern foot of Mount Alvand (11,716 feet [3,571 m]). Itself at an elevation of 6,158 feet (1,877 m), the city dominates the wide, fertile plain of the upper Qareh-Su River. There is a sizable Turkish-speaking minority. The city, although certainly an older foundation, has records only from the 1st millennium BC.

Hamadan has had many names: it was possibly the Bit Daiukki of the Assyrians, Hegbatana, or Agbatana, to the Medes, and Ecbatana to the Greeks. One of the Median capitals, under Cyrus II the Great (d. 529 BC) and later Achaemenid rulers, it was the site of a royal summer palace. A little east of Hamadan is the Mossala, a natural mound the debris of which includes the remains of ancient Ecbatana, which has never been excavated. The modern city is built partly on its mounds. The city is mentioned in the Bible (Ezra 6:2).The city was captured by the Arabs in 641 or 642 and for some centuries remained a provincial capital, though important only commercially.  In the second half of the 12th century, the Seljuq Turkish sultans made it their capital, and so it remained for 50 years. To this period dates the building of Gonbad-e 'Alaviyan, a mausoleum with fine stucco work. About 1220 Hamadan was destroyed by the Mongols; in 1386 it was sacked by Tamerlane, a Turkic conqueror, and the inhabitants massacred. It was partly restored in the 17th century and subsequently changed hands often between Iranian ruling houses and the Ottomans. In modern times its strategic position has caused a revival. The city was damaged during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Modern development is modest.

In summer the pleasant climate makes Hamadan a resort, but the winters are long and severe. Hamadan is an important trade centre on the main Tehran-Baghdad highway. 
Capital of the province of Hamadan, ancient Ecbatana, the Medes’ capital. It was the residence of Achaemenian Kings, and the summer resort of the Parthian and Sassanian dynasties. In the 7 century AD, Hamadan passed to the Arabs, and it was later held by the Seljuk Turks
(12th-13th centuries) and the Mongols (13th- 14th centuries)
Hamadan’s climate is mild and delightful in summers, and cold in winters. 
The ruins of ancient Hagmatana, on the site of which the present Hamadan stands, date from the period of Median monarchs (7 and early 6 centuries BC) who had made that city their capital.

Cities of Iran