Geography of Alamut Valley
Alamut Valley is a vast area that is located in(IRAN) Alborz mountain chain between Qazvin & Mazandaran province borders , consists of more than 350 villages .This area is divided to western and eastern part, moreover, eastern part has more attractions than other one due to Alamut main castle (Assassin’s)& Andej canyons & Alam koh peak (4850m altitude) which include some off the beaten tracks for trekking and mountaineering . It takes approximately 5 hours from Tehran to get the Alamut valley by car .It’s recommended to not go there in snow days due to mountainous & curvy roads unless you have SUV 4by4 fully equipped vehicle. Qazvin altitude is around 1280m but it may vary in Alamut valley , in some villages it reach to 2200m above the sea level .
Alamut castle(Assassin’s castle)
Hassan Sabah Castle is located in the northeastern part of Gazor Khan village, near Mo’alem Kalayeh (Alamut, district of Qazvin province). The position of the castle is somehow well located and inaccessible to be attacked or conquered, that’s why they could resist against the Mongol invasion for up to 2 months while they were fully besieged by the Mongols without any food ration. The height of the castle cliff reaches 220 meters and 2163 meters above sea level. According to historians, it looks like a camel located on the northeast side, but according to Frya Strak (French Globetrotter) it looks like a ship whose nose has been lengthened, of course if we consider the upper side of the cliff. The relics of the walls, the tower and the lookout post were built by Sarooj (see this page for the Sarooj definition in English) as indissoluble materials. All the complex buildings were built on different levels of steep cliff, each floor had its own use, which suited it perfectly to be the headquarters which was used as a commanding position throughout the region of ancient Persia, from Khorasan to Damascus . The castle has an area of ten thousand m2 but due to several attacks and conquests only ruins of the castle remained .Ismaili ds settled here at the beginning of the 11th century and defeated by the Mongol invasion at the end from the 13th century …Furthermore Alamut means eagle’s nest in Persian.
Spoken languages in Valley
Some villages in Alamut Valley speak vernacular which is called (maraghi مراقی ) but mostly speak plain Farsi … a few villages in western part of Alamut speak Azari due to adjacent Azari part .
Local dish of Alamut Valley
First and foremost predominant dish in Alamut Valley is local Homemade one which made of Capparis Herbaceous Plant (کپر گل ) as stew with rice ,ladled over it & sometimes it has different method of preparation that like steamed rice layered with other ingredients ,mostly mutton or lamb & Capparis and other conceivable vegetables which is super Nutritious .it became staple diet since many years ago ,though precise period is matter of debate . In Alamut region due to not only abundant &wide range of Herbaceous vegetable like coriander ,parsly & fenugreek but also Bean broadbean and chickpea ,its served some vegetarian foods like Ku ku Sabzi which is delicious with Iranian bread(sangak)or with rice.
Lifestyle in Alamut valley
As they live in mountain , must be well equipped for winter time due to frizzing weather & relatively high altitude in some parts ,whereas most of villagers in high altitude would leave village in to cities at winter time& comeback at late April like Nomads . although thanks to government for transferring Civil Infrastructures in recent years ,some villages have dirt road access which should be asphalted .In recent years all old thatch cottages were abandoned or demolished for construct whether Concrete frame building or Iron frame building due to free-interest loans which were allocated to villagers but renovated in traditional thatch-façade ,so many buildings were became earthquake resistance. You can find out more about our Package in Alamut valley through this link. and if you are convinced about our professional services then reserve via this link.