Carpet Merchant relaxing in the Vakil Bazaar, Shiraz, Iran in 1977

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Olympus OM1 50 mm Lens Agfa CT18 slide film,
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Vakil Bazaar is the main bazaar of Shiraz and is located in the historical center of the city.

It is thought that the market originally was established by the Buwayhids in the 11th century AD, and was completed mainly by the Atabaks of Fars, and only was renamed after Karim Khan Zand in the 18th century.

The Bazaar has beautiful courtyards, caravansarais, bath houses, and old shops which are deemed among the best places in shiraz to buy all kinds of Persian rugs, spices, copper handicrafts and antiques.

Like other middle eastern Bazaars there are a numbers of mosques and Imamzadehs constructed adjacent or behind the Bazaar.

Shiraz is the sixth most populous city in Iran and is the capital of Fars Province. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the Rudkhaneye Khoshk seasonal river. Shiraz has a moderate climate and has been a regional trade center for more than one thousand years.

The earliest reference to the city, as Tiraziš, is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC. In the 13th century, Shiraz became a leading center of the arts and letters, thanks to the encouragement of its ruler and the presence of many Persian scholars and artists. Shiraz was the capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1750 until 1781, as well as briefly during the Saffarid period.

Shiraz is known as the city of poets and flowers. It is also considered by many Iranians to be the city of gardens, due to the many gardens and fruit trees that can be seen in the city. Shiraz has had major Jewish and Christian communities. The crafts of Shiraz consist of inlaid mosaic work of triangular design; silver-ware; pile carpet-weaving and weaving of kilim, called gilim and jajim in the villages and among the tribes. In Shiraz industries such as cement production, sugar, fertilizers, textile products, wood products, metalwork and rugs dominate. Shirāz also has a major oil refinery and is also a major center for Iran’s electronic industries: 53% of Iran’s electronic investment has been centered in Shiraz.Shiraz is home to Iran’s first solar power plant. Text courtesy of Wikipedia