Kermanshah
©
Kermanshah

Kermanshah

Zagros valley city near Iraq, gateway to Sassanid rock reliefs and the Bisotun inscription.

Kermanshah is one of the oldest cities in western Iran, set in a broad valley in the Zagros Mountains near the Iraqi border. The city itself is a sprawling provincial capital, but the real draws lie just outside it.

Taq-e Bostan, at the entrance to the city, is a series of Sassanid-era rock reliefs carved into a cliff face — hunting scenes, royal investitures, and inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century AD. About 30 kilometres east along the highway toward Tehran, the Bisotun (Behistun) complex is even more remarkable: the massive trilingual inscription of Darius the Great, carved high into a cliff, was the key to deciphering cuneiform script and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Below it stands a Hercules statue and several caves with evidence of human habitation going back to the Stone Age.

The old city has a lively bazaar and several historic mosques, including the Jame' (Chehelsotoon) Mosque. The Tekiyeh Moaven al-Molk contains some of the finest Qajar-era tilework in western Iran. Kermanshah province is also known for its Kurdish culture, beautiful mountain scenery, distinctive handicrafts, and excellent local pastries.

Guide

Eating Out

Kermanshah has a good range of restaurants concentrated around the main commercial streets and near the Taq-e Bostan park. The local cuisine is Kurdish-influenced, with kebabs (including the local variation with ground meat and herbs called kubideh) and stews being the staples. Rice cooked with herbs — ghormeh sabzi, loobia polo, reshteh polo — appears on almost every menu.

The city is particularly known for its pastries and sweets: sohan (a sticky almond brittle), kolooche (walnut cookies), and nan-e berenji (rice flour sweets) are sold in shops throughout the bazaar and make good gifts to take away. Pizza places are surprisingly popular — you will find them on almost every major street, reflecting a general trend in Iranian cities. For traditional food, the restaurants along the road leading to Taq-e Bostan are reliable and busy with locals at lunchtime.

Guide

Getting There

Kermanshah Airport (KSH) has regular domestic flights from Tehran (about an hour) and some connections to other Iranian cities. By road, Kermanshah is around 525 kilometres from Tehran on the Tehran–Baghdad highway — a five- to six-hour drive or an overnight bus. The bus terminal in the west of the city has frequent services to and from Tehran (Hamadan terminal), Hamadan, and other western Iran cities. The drive from Hamadan via Bisotun is particularly scenic, passing through the Zagros mountain valleys.

Guide

Things to Do

Kermanshah's main sights are its extraordinary Sassanid and Achaemenid monuments — Taq-e Bostan and the Bisotun complex — but the city also has a fine bazaar and a rich Kurdish cultural life. Most visits combine the monuments on a day circuit east of the city with time in the old bazaar quarter.

Guide

When to Go

The best time to visit Kermanshah is spring (April–May) and autumn (September–October), when the Zagros mountain climate is mild and clear. Spring in particular is beautiful — the hills are green and wildflowers are everywhere. Summer brings heat to the lower valleys but the city itself, at around 1,350 metres elevation, stays cooler than the Iranian lowlands. Winters can be harsh, with snow closing mountain roads at times. Nowruz (Persian New Year, around 21 March) and the weeks following it are a popular time for Iranian domestic tourism; the monuments will be crowded.