MARAGHEH

Maragheh can be reached by the good 130-km asphalt road south of Tabriz in less than 2 hours. The run is delightful, skirting Mount Sahand, whose ridge 3,722 meters above sea level, protects the town from the harsh winter cold experienced in Tabriz. The town's valley is watered by the Safi Chai river.

Maragheh Observatory
Maragheh has an unbreakable connection with the Mongols, who made it the capital of Azarbaijan for some time, presumably on account of the excellent grazing for their countless horses, and between 1260- 72 AD, in the time of Hulagu, built an astronomical observatory and a university for Khaje Nassir od-Din Tussi, in 15 years and within a distance of 2 km to the west of the town. Its remains are still visible. Khaje Nassir od-Din, born in Tus, near Mash had in 1200 AD, used Hulagu's naive belief in astrology for his own ends.
He persuaded the pagan convert to Buddhism that he could only guide the destiny of the Mongols (who had rescued him from the assassination at Alamut) if a huge observatory and a library to house his 400,000 volumes were constructed.
With it were associated the endeavors of numerous scholars, whom Khajeh Nassir od-Din mentions in Zij.-e Ilkhani, an astronomical almanac. Brockelmann lists 56 works by this eminent scholar, of which most are in Arabic, then the language of Near Eastern science, but Khajeh Nassir od-Din also wrote poetry in Persian.
It had been active until about 680 years ago. It turned into the present state as a result of repeated earthquakes and lack of governmental support. After suppressing the riot of Mokri Tribe supported by the Ottoman Sultan Morad the Third, Shah Abbas the Great arranged for repair of the observatory. However, this was not commenced due to the king's early death.
Maragheh is famous for its mosques, imamzadehs, places of worship, and principally for its funerary towers (gonbads), all of which can be accessed using a taxi.

Maragheh Museum