Mashhad is the holiest city in Iran, tucked into the mountainous northeast corner of the country in the region known as Khorasan. The name means "place of martyrdom" — the martyr in question is Imam Reza, the eighth Shia imam, who was poisoned here in the 9th century. His tomb became a sacred place of pilgrimage, and today millions of Iranians visit the shrine each year, arriving by the tens of thousands daily on flights, trains, and buses.
The Holy Shrine of Imam Reza is the centrepiece of the city: a vast complex of courtyards, porticos, the magnificent golden dome, and the Goharshad Mosque dating from the Timurid period. The attached museums hold priceless manuscripts and objects, and the tomb of Harun al-Rashid lies inside the same complex. The shrine is overwhelming in scale and devotion — it is less a single building than a small city within the city.
Beyond the shrine, Mashhad has a number of large parks and several interesting excursions: the tomb of Ferdowsi, Iran's national poet, is in nearby Tus (24 km); the tomb of Khajeh Rabi, with calligraphy by the renowned Safavid artist Reza Abbasi, lies 6 kilometres north; and the summer resorts of Torghabeh, Shandiz, and the surrounding mountain valleys offer cool relief from the city heat. The climate is varied — cold winters, pleasant springs, mild summers, and beautiful autumns.