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Abyaneh
is a beautiful historic village at the foot of Karkass mountain 70
km to the southeast of Kashan and 40 km to Natanz. This is a
village of living traditions,architectural styles (all in red
clay), and probably the most interesting example of human
adaptation to nature, wherein one can transcend thboundaries of
time and space and experience the ancient civilization and culture
of Iran. The village is compact, with narrow and sloped lanes, and
houses located on the slope as if placed on a stairway. Here, the
roofs of some houses are used to serve as the courtyard for other
houses higher up on the slope. The language spoken by the literate
people of Abyaneh is Parthian Pahlavi. They are deeply committed
to honoring their traditions. No matter how well-educated a person
from Abyaneh might be, he or she puts on the traditional Abyaneh
costume on coming back to the village from anywhere in Iran. The
women's traditional costume consisting of a scarf with floral
motifs and pleated pants, is particularly attractive. The Abyaneh
woman is unseparably attached to her wedding gown inherited from
her mother, and is expected to pass it on to her daughter. It
bears Such an intrinsic value for her that she wouldn't sell it at
any price.
There
are a good number of old houses in Abyaneh, among them the homes
of Gholam Nader Shah and Nayeb Hossein Kashi. In addition to the
Zoroastrian fire- temple (from the Sassanian period) in the
village, there are three castles, a pilgrimage site, three mosques
named Hajatgah, Porzaleh, and Jam'e, all worth a careful visit.
Altogether there are eight mosques in the village.The Hajatgah
mosque, built next to a rock, dates from the early Safavid period,
according to an inscription on top of its door. Inside the mosque
there is a beautiful nocturnal prayer hall with wooden capital
pillars.
Porzaleh mosque, built during the Ilkhanid reign in the oldest
part of the village, has a very vast nocturnal prayer hall. The
ornamentation used here look very much like those of the tomb of
Bayazid of Bastam, the great Persian mystic.
The Jam'e Mosque of Abyaneh dates back to the eleventh century.
There are a number of inscriptions and a manbar (pulpit) in
the mosque. The interesting thing is that the pulpit has many
features similar to the architectural elements and column heads
seen in Persepolis.
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