Isfahan

Isfahan ( ; also rendered as Ispahan) is a major city in the Central District of the Isfahan Province of Iran. It is located south of Tehran and is the capital of Isfahan Province. The city has a population of approximately 2,220,000, making it the third-largest city in Iran, after Tehran and Mashhad, and the second-largest metropolitan area. Isfahan is located at the intersection of the two principal routes that traverse Iran, north–south and east–west. Isfahan flourished between the 9th and 18th centuries. Under the Safavid dynasty, Isfahan became the capital of Persia, for the second time in its history, under Shah Abbas the Great. The city retains much of its history. It is famous for its Perso–Islamic architecture, grand boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, tiled mosques, and minarets. Isfahan also has many historical buildings, monuments, paintings, and artifacts. The fame of Isfahan led to the Persian proverb Esfahān nesf-e-jahān ast (Isfahan is half (of) the world). Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan is one of the largest city squares in the world, and UNESCO has designated it a World Heritage Site. Etymology Isfahan is derived from Middle Persian , which is attested to by various Middle Persian seals and inscriptions, including that of the Zoroastrian magi Kartir. The present-day name is the Arabicized form of Ispahan (unlike Middle Persian, but similar to Spanish, New Persian does not allow initial consonant clusters such as sp). The region is denoted by the abbreviation GD (Southern Media) on Sasanian coins. In Ptolemy's Geographia, it appears as, which translates to "place of gathering for the army". It is believed that derived from "the armies", the Old Persian plural of , from which is derived 'army' and (, 'soldier', literally 'of the army') in Central Persian. Some of the other ancient names include Gey, Jey (old form Zi), Park, and Judea. History