Enqelab Square (Revolution Square) is the main transit hub of central Tehran — a chaotic roundabout from which several of the city's main arteries diverge. It is not beautiful, but it is significant: the square is named for the revolution and its central axis, Enqelab Street, runs east to west through the old centre and is lined with the booksellers and stationery shops that have made this block the intellectual heartland of the city.
The Street of Revolution (Khiaban-e Enqelab), between the square and the university, has been the centre of Tehran's book trade for over a century. The pavement stalls sell an extraordinary range of Persian and foreign literature, academic texts, maps, and ephemera. The University of Tehran is at the eastern end, and the combined effect — university students, bookshops, tea houses, and a few surviving pre-revolutionary cafés — makes this the most intellectually alive street in the city. Browse slowly.