QUM

Tehran's largest neighbor with an area of 10, 743 square km on a low plain and 930 meters above sea level, Qum Province borders on Tehran and Semnan provinces to the north, Esfahan to the south, and Central Province to the East. On route to Esfahan, Kashan, Yazd, and Kerman by train or bus (on Tehran-Qum highway), Qum as the capital of the province has easy access to Saveh and Tafresh to the northwest; Mahallat and Delijan to the southwest, and Kavir and Salt Lake to the east. Its population according to the latest census amounts to more than 1,200,000 inhabitants. It can be conveniently visited in a day from Tehran.
With an average annual rainfall of 14 mm according to the meteorological reports of the last 20 years, it lies in a hot sandy hollow between the mountains of Kashan and the Great Salt Desert, and thus, it belongs in climate, scenery and architecture to the desert rather than to the Alborz region; here you see the first bad- girs (wind-towers) and aab-anbaars (water-storage buildings), and a few kilometers further on the first palm trees.
Qum has always been a leading center of Shi'ism. The late Imam Khomeini and countless other religious figures studied and thought theology here, and the town played a particularly strong role in the anti-Shah movement, as well as throughout the Islamic Revolution. It is a major pilgrimage site (with more than 300 Imamzadehs buried therein), and aspirant mullahs come here from all over Iran and other countries of the world for training in numerous seminaries of Howzeh-ye Elmieh, consisting of many mosques and schools.
The most famous seminaries of Qum are:
I. Madraseh Feizieh, originally built about 600 years ago. This school was twice attacked by the Shah's secret police during the last thirty five years, as a result of which many religious students and teachers were either arrested and imprisoned or killed.
2. Madraseh Hojjatieh, used as a boarding school mainly for foreign students.
3. Madraseh Oar osh-Shafa, originally built during the Qajar period it was totally demolished and reconstructed after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
4. Madraseh Ma'sumieh, the construction works of which was completed in 1989, and started admitting students from the same year.

Qum Museum
Qum Imamzadehs
Qum Bazaar

ACCESS AND DISTANCES:
115 km to Tehran

ACCIDENTS:
Traffic Police, Amin Blvd 22049

BUS TERMINAL:
Tehran Old Road 44000.

CITY DIALING CODE NUMBER:
The dialing code for Qazvin is 0281.

DRUG STORE (24-HOUR):
1. Imam Khomeini, 742450.
2. 19th-Day, 35888.
3. Ramesh, 49197.
4. Shahin, 719935.

EMERGENCIES:
Nekuei Hospital 1 15, 123

FIRE STATION:
125

GOVERNOR'S OFFICE:
1 Supreme Leader's Office 7474
2. Farmandari, Astaneh Ave, 718051, 33.
3. Ostandari,716201-4.

MEDICAL SERVICES:
1.Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Shahid Beheshti Ave (Kuh-e Sefid) 43301-6.
2.Kamkar Hospital, 19th Azar Ave (Bajak) 19th Day Ave 22173.

MUNICIPALITY:
27001-6

POLICE:
Saheli St 733066-7, 22042

RAlLWAY STATION:
Istgah St 617151

TOURIST MAP:
Available in English and Persian

TOURIST OFFICE:
1 (Islamic Guidance Dept) Dowr-e Shahr Ave, Opp Registration Department 744205, 742307.
2. (Cultural Heritage Organization) 736082