Sari (Persian:ساری;[sɒːˈɾiː]ⓘ)[a] is a city in theCentral District ofSari County,Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county and the district.[4] Sari was the former capital of Iran for a short period and is in the north of the country, between the northern slopes of theAlborz Mountains and southern coast of theMazandaran Sea. Sari is the largest and most populous city of Mazandaran.
ز دریای گیلان (مازندران) چون ابر سیاه / دمادم به ساری رسید آن سپاه / چو آمد به نزدیک شاه آن سپاه / فریدون پذیره بیامد به راه
the city's name was alsoZadracarta in 658 B.C to 225 A.D.
Coming from this and other similar evidence in theShahnameh, native people of Sari have a folklore that the city was populated when the blacksmithKaveh (a native of the city) revolted against the tyranny ofZahak. After that success,Fereydun of Pishdadi (from Tamishan) feeling indebted to Kaveh, chose this city so as to live near him until his death. For this reason, when Touraj and Salam murderedIraj (son of Fereydun), they buried him here.
Espahbod Tous-e Nouzar (great-grandson of Fereydun) systematically founded it to remain as family monument.[7] Sari may be synonymous with the city ofZadracarta mentioned by Ancient Greek sources as early as the 6th century BCE (Achaemenid dynasty).[8] However, other sources suggest that modernGorgan is located closer to, or on, the site of Zadracarta.
Ancient dish found in Sari
According toArrian, this was the largest city ofHyrcania. The term means "the yellow city" and it was given to it because of the great number of orange, lemon, and other fruit trees that grew in the outskirts of that city. Hence it is by D'Anville, Rochette, and other geographers, identified Saru, whichPietro Della Valle says in his "Travels" means "the yellow city".
It is probable that Zadracarta and Saru are the same with the Syringis of Polybius, taken from Arsaces II byAntiochus the Great, in his vain attempt to reunite the revolted provinces of Hyrcania andParthia to the Syrian crown. Han Way, who visited Saru in 1734, makes mention of four ancient Magian temples as still standing then, built in the form of several rotundas, each thirty feet in diameter, and about 120 in height.
HoweverSir William Ouseley, who had travelled to the site in 1811, has speculated that these to be masses of brick masonry of the Mohammedan age. Out of four, one of the rotunda is still standing since the rest were overturned by an earthquake. This and other remains of similar buildings, bear the names of Fereydun, Salm, Tur, and other mythical figures, whose celebrity had been established about 2000 years prior to their erection. One of them Avas called the tomb of Kaus, and was supposed to contain the ashes ofCyrus the Great. Sir William Ouseley thinks it was that of Kabus, or Kaus, the son of Washmakin, who governedMazanderan in the fourth century of the Hejira.
It was at Saru that the ashes of the youthful hero,Sohraub, were deposited by his father,Roostum, after he had unwittingly slayed Sohrab in a hand-to-hand battle. Saru is celebrated for its abundance of gardens, which emit a pleasing fragrance in the vernal and summer months. An oriental proverb declares that the "gates of paradise derive sweetness from the air of Sari and the flowers ofEden receive their fragrance from its soil". The city was again a regional capital in theSassanid dynasty era.[9]
In the seventh century,Farrukhan the Great of theDabuyid dynasty reconstructed the city, and because his son's name was "Saruyeh", he called it by this name. Sari once again became the capital ofTabaristan during that century (Amol was the capital previously ).
After invasions by the successors ofMongols,Timur ofUzbeks,Turcoman, andTatars the city lost its high status and was periodically burnt to ashes.
BecauseShah Abbas I'smother was fromBehshahr (Ashraf), he foundedFarahabad as his alternate capital of Persia in the north of the city and created the gardens in Ashraf. Mazandaran alongside neighboringGilan were subsequently settled during Abbas' reign by large numbers ofGeorgians,Circassians,Armenians and otherpeoples of the Caucasus, whose descendants still live across Mazandaran.[10][11][12] Still many towns, villages and neighbourhoods in Mazandaran bear the name "Gorji" (i.e. Georgian) in them, although most of the Georgians are already assimilated into the mainstream Mazanderanis.After theSafavid dynasty fell and until the rise ofAgha Mohammad Khan to power there, is no evidence of any notable events in Sari.
Major developments took place after theQajar dynasty. During the reign ofReza Shah Pahlavi, the face of the town was changed drastically. Sari Rail Station and most of the streets and governmental buildings date from that era. During World War II theSoviet army occupied the city, but left it after the war.
The coastline north of Sari fronts onto theMazandaran Sea; north-east of the city liesNeka.Qa'emshahr (formerly known as Shahi) is to its south-west,Juybar is to its north-west,andKiasar,Damghan, andSemnan are cities located to the south.
Map showing position of Sari county as well as Sari city inMazandaran province
Sari has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa,Trewartha:Cf) that borders on aMediterranean climate (Csa).[14] Winters are cool and rainy whilst summers are hot and humid. Sari's 2005–2006 statistical weather information, in comparison with that of otherMazandaran cities, shows that Sari has an average climate, but it is somewhat sunnier and has more spring rain. However, recent rainfall in Sari has declined.
Extremes for the Mahdasht Station:
Highest recorded temperature: 44.0 °C (111.2 °F) on 4 June 1980[15]
Lowest recorded temperature: −5.0 °C (23.0 °F) on 17 February 1993[15]
Climate data for Mahdasht, Sari (1967-2003 normals and extremes)
The Clock Tower, in the Clock Square (Meydan-e-Sa'at) located in downtown Sari, attracts visitors and has become a local landmark. Mohammad Ali Hamidi built the clock tower in 1930.[16] Sari also contains the tombs of the Muslim cleric leaders Yahya and Zayn Al-Abedin, Emamzade-ye Abbas, and Shazdeh Hussein the architecture of which are from the 15th century.[citation needed]
The economy of Sari is based on food production such as milled rice, dairy products, canned meat and cookies. Sari is a major citrus fruits producer, especially oranges, tangerines and lemons.[citation needed] Oil seeds such as soybean and grape being cultivated in vast lands around villages for producing of vegetable ghee and cooking oil. During the 1950s to 1970s, a factory of MM company was the city's largest industrial complex and one of the country's biggest vegetable oil producers.[citation needed] After the1979 revolution, the company was nationalized but got bankrupt and closed later on.[17][better source needed] Other sources of the economy include, but are not limited to, paper, wood, fabrics and construction materials. Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries, the biggest factory of its kind in the middle east, is situated in a 2000-acre ground on Semnan Road. Mazpaper is presently producing more than 20% of country's paper requirements and is a major economical entity not only for the city but also for the province.[citation needed] The MWPI's major subsidiary is the NEKA CHOUB Co., that is manufacturing plywood and chipboard.
Sari's old city structure changed in the first Pahlavi era. New avenues and streets in the city center date from that period. In the Qajar dynasty, Sari's neighborhoods included: Afghoun Mahalleh, Bahar Abad, Balouchi Kheyl, BalouchiMahalleh, Birameter (Bahram-Ottor), Chaleh Bagh, Dar Masdjed,Isfahouni Mahalleh, Kohneh Baq Shah, Kurd Mahalleh, Mir Mashad Mahalleh, Mir Sar Rozeh, Na'l Bandan, Naqareh Khaneh, Ossanlou Mahalleh, Paay-e Chenar, QelichLi Mahalleh, Sabzeh Meydan, Shazdeh Hossein, Shepesh Koshan, Shishehgar Mahalleh.
The population density of some neighborhoods in downtown (for example: Mirzazamani, Peyvandi, Sang) is greater than 20,000 per square kilometer. Note that before 1950, the population of the city during the summer was less than in winter. This influenced estimations, such that an estimate done in summer might be inaccurate.
Population of Sari From 19th century.
1808 = 21,000 est.
1827 = 19,000 est.
1832 = 20,000 est.
1850 = 15,000 est.
1856 = 9,000 est.
1872 = 15,500 est.
1874 = 16,000 est.
1883 = 16,100 est.
1905 = 25,000 est.
1923 = 35,000 est.
1956 = 26,278 cen.
1966 = 44,547 cen.
1976 = 70,753 cen.
1986 = 141,020 cen.
1996 = 195,882 cen.
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 259,084 in 71,522 households.[18] The following census in 2011 counted 296,417 people in 90,798 households.[19] The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 309,820 people in 101,932 households.[2]
Zoroastrians from Sari who fled toIndia in the 10th century founded there a city which they named "Navu Sari" (English: "New Sari"), a name which was by now shortened toNavsari; the town is still a center of the ZoroastrianParsi community of India.
Sari is served byDasht-e Naz International Airport, which is located in the north-eastern part of the city. List of arrival and departure flights can be found in the Airport's website.[20]
Local highways have been well developed after the Iran–Iraq War.road 22 connects Sari to several cities in the province such asQaemshahr,Neka andBabol, as well as major cities outside the province such asGorgan andMashhad.[21]
There are five bus terminals, but one, Terminal-e Dowlat, is the most used. The others serve cities that are located within 150 kilometers from Sari: Gorgan, Nowshahr, Chaloos, and Kiyasar are within this range.
The layout of the city renders occasional use of taxis. There is a wide choice of taxi systems including limousines, wireless radio taxis, airport or rail station taxis, and telephone taxis. City buses are also common because they connect Sari's suburbs to the center of city, providing a low cost and convenient means of transportation to and from the town for people living in those neighborhoods. Although Sari is considered a safe city for pedestrians even at night, nevertheless care should be taken when walking around.[citation needed]
In the course of history, Sari was once one of the most cultured cities in the history of Iran. The scientific knowledge of Saravis were noted throughout history and recorded byPietro Della Valle and other visitors. Today, the universities are as follows:
University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
Sari is the birthplace of several wrestlers and athletes. Notable wrestlers from Sari includeAsgari Mohammadian,Majid Torkan andMorad Mohammadi. The town was the host and scene of 2006 Wrestling World Cup Competitions.
Although Sari is the most important cultural place in the north of Iran, earthquakes and other causes destroyed most of its cultural heritage and ancient monuments. Still, Sari has been described as Safa City (City of Curvet). Notable are Famous Houses such asKolbadi House and Amir Divan House (Ramedani House); also theResket Tower from the House of Karen era and theFarahabad Palace Complex from the Safavid era and historical Sari Central Mosque and tomb towerImamzadeh Abbas.[23]
SeyedAbdolhossein Mokhtabad-Amrei (born 1966 in Sari) is an Iranian composer and singer ofPersian Classical music.He received his vocal training under supervision of renowned and legendary maestros and since his professional debut inاارا 1991, has performed numerous concerts in Iran and abroad, including most European Countries, South East Asia and NorthernAmerica "Canada & United States" and produced more than 20 sets of music albums.
Sari has raised many authors and poets.Mina Assadi is probably the most famous one. She was born and raised in Sari but then moved toTehran to study journalism and work as a journalist at newspapers likeKayhan. Today Mina Assadi lives in exile inStockholm, Sweden.Mohsen Emadi (born 29 October 1976 in Sari) is anotherPersian poet and translator.
Tomb of Imamzadeh Abbas, Located in East of Sari urban area,Mazandaran.
Emamzadeh Yahya (son of Imam Moosa-ibn Jafar)
Emamzadeh Abbas (son of Imam Moosa-ibn Jafar)
Emamzadeh Abdollah, Koula
Masjed-e-Jaame' Mosque (constructed before Islam by Zoroastrians, where many important kings and heroes of Persia such asIraj,Tur,Salm,Fereydun,Sohrab (son ofRostam) thatFerdowsi recalls them inshahnameh are buried near this place).
Emam-Sajjad Mosque (formerly Shah-Qazi, initially was called Marqad-'Ala-Adolleh School but Rostam Shah Qazi reconstructed it in 1169 and renamed it to Shah-Qazi during the Qaznavi era)
^Sari, Iran can be found atGEOnet Names Server, atthis link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3082809" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".
^^ Muliani, S. (2001) Jaygah-e Gorjiha dar Tarikh va Farhang va Tammadon-e Iran. Esfahan: Yekta [The Georgians' position in the Iranian history and civilization]
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