Bam (بم)
Bam is an oasis city, where you will see loads of palm trees, as well as eucalypts. Most people come to Bam to visit its ancient city.
The ancient city covers 6 km² (2 sq mi) and it used to be home to 13,000 people during its heyday in the Safavid period from 1502 to 1722. In that last year, it was abandoned following an Afghan invasion. Later it was slowly repopulated, but in 1810, invaders from Shiraz caused it to be abandoned again.
After that it was in use as an army barracks and since the 1930s it has been totally deserted. Many structures had survived remarkably well by then, including some that must have been built even before the 12th century. In the early morning of 26 December 2003, however, a powerful earthquake destroyed about 80% of Bam, including the city's historic quarter.
The ancient city was surrounded by clay walls that could be climbed by narrow and steep stairways. There were good views over Bam from the walls. You could see the icehouse, which held large blocks of ice that melted during the summer and provided the city with drinking water.
The ancient town was dominated by the inner citadel. The garrison had a unique echo than could be heard all over the ancient city. It is thought that it was used as some sort of warning system.
Both the citadel and the surrounding city are slowly being rebuilt.
There were many hotels and restaurants in Bam, but most of them were destroyed in the earthquake of December 2003. Nowadays several hotels have reopened, but there are still not as many as before the earthquake.
Bam has air connections with Tehran and buses run to most other cities in the region. The city is 980 km southeast of Tehran (Teheran).
Because of the war with Israel and the United States it is not recommended to travel to Bam (بم), or any other destination in Iran at this moment.
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