Esfahān or Isfahan (historically also rendered as Ispahan,
Old Persian: Aspadana,
Middle Persian: Spahān, Esfahān), located about 340 km south of
Tehran at , is the capital of
Esfahan Province and
Iran's third largest city (after
Tehran and
Mashhad). Esfahan has a population of 1,600,554 (2007 calculation). Esfahan is located on the main north-south and east-west routes crossing Iran, and was once one of the largest cities in the world. It flourished from 1050 to
1722, particularly in the
16th century under the
Safavid dynasty, when it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. Even today, the city retains much of its past glory. It is famous for its Islamic
architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. This led to the Persian proverb Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast: "Esfahan is half of the world".
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