Markazi

Markazi or central province is one of the 31 provinces in Iran. Many officials in the last two decades tried to change the name of this province because it caused confusion between officials and international relations related to the consensus and other occasions about naming of this province. 
Actually before the revolution ,the naming system of that time was to name all provinces in order of numbers. After the revolution the naming system changed to words and according to decision of officials the name of central and markazi was chosen for this province.

History of markazi
 

 After years officials tried to divide today's Markazi province from Tehran. It was rich, vast, and It had a very the specific ideal location for industries during the Iran and Iraq war. So they divided this vast land from Tehran province .The capital of Tehran province now is Tehran and the capital of central or markazi province is Arak city.
Imagine how confusing the name of markazi province is , which is not the place of central activities of ruling or industry in Iran.

markazi province is rich enough to cover most of the expenses of itself and some other parts of Iran.
During the war between Iran and Iraq, the government had many problems like fighting air forces of Iraq invading borders and destroying key industries like steel industries, petrochemical industries, refineries and other key points of Iran at that time.
The shortest time for Iraqi forces to reach those important industries was about 15 minutes and it was very short for Iranian air forces to defend all fighters invading borders and interior lands of Iran, from the other side Iran was in heavy dark sanctions at that time by western countries and Iraq took advantage of this weakness and invaded iran and bombed many infrastructures in the first two years of war.
So the commanders of the army and officials in government started to move all key industries like refineries, steel companies, petrochemical industries, power plants and other key structures to deep interior lands of Iran near central deserts of markazi or central province of Iran.
By this genius act of Iranian authorities, the government took a rest and the armies had the chance to buy time to defend interior lands and industries during invading the air fighters of Iraq.
Just by this simple trick we had the chance to prevent all key industries from invading Iraqi air troops and because of this simple act we found a solution to defend the country against Iraqi forces during eight years of war between Iran and Iraq.
After this act most of the industries from other parts of the country started to move and migrate to arak industrial Zone as lower hand industries.
For example, most polymer forming plants migrated to arak industrial city to consume polymers which were produced by petrochemical companies and because of these concentration activities a river of wealth and money rushed to Arak and Industrial city of Markazi province of Iran.
Imagine just in a few years the small city of arak, which is not very far from Tehran (the capital), changed to a big metropolis and changed to the common central wealth in the central desert of Iran.
Meanwhile the markazi province started to grow. Other people migrated to this part of Iran to work and start business .
Because of importance of industries, universities, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, power plants, oil and natural gas industries, steel industries, Aluminum and Aluminum alloys industries, chemical agriculture fertilizers and thousands other products, today many roads, highways, railways, end to central part of Iran or markazi province and because of this infrastructures the markazi province and arak has the best potential to attract many normal , business, industrial and special events tourists in future. Even today thousands of professionals and business tourists go to international arak in markazi province each year.
although markazi province consumed most of the business and industries . you should not forget this part of Iran’s map has an old and rich history and even its name is as old as its history.
The name of arak is a Persian pronunciation of “Iraq”. In old times many big cities had a twin in Iraq and Afghanistan. For instance, we have a city by name of “Harat” in the east part of Iran which is named in respect to real “harat” city in Afghanistan and we call them twin or sister cities in Iran and Afghanistan.
So Again in Iran we have arak city in respect of magnificent Iraq in old times. Because of this old history you can find old historical sites in markazi province.

Tourism in markazi

markazi province is a very vast land. Mostly deserted and arid areas covered this province but in some places because of the mountainous areas and springs and rivers you can find garden lands which are unique in Iran.
Old cities of Delijan and Mahalat are two historical cities which are a tourist target in which thousands of tourists visit these two cities especially in springs and summers.
Mahallat is the capital of flower and plant production in the neighboring central desert of Iran. In Mahallat there is a beautiful large spring running through the city and is a target tourist site to cool down in hot summers of central Iran or makazi province.
In Mahallat you can find thousand greenhouses which are active in producing house plants and cut flowers which are used in Iran or exported to other countries such as Iraq, or countries around Persian Gulf. Because of this wealth many good touristic infrastructures had been established before and after the revolution. There is a famous hot mineral water spring which is used by tourists from old times and in historical times it was used to cure dermal problems or used as recreation.
Today there are many good hotels and guest houses which are used to accommodate visitors who stay for days and enjoy the hot spring mineral waters of Mahallat and cool weather of mountains around Mahallat and other beautiful and historical cities of markazi province as Delijan city.
Near Deligan We have a very special historical site by name “Khorhe” which is very important because its roots go back to the Median era more than 2500 years ago. Actually before Arian migration to Persian territory there were many tribes that lived in vast lands of Persian empire and were pushed back by Aryans to western borders of Iran in the old days.
One of those times were medians which dissolved the Persian empire in advance and made the powerful and vast Persian empire in centuries.
In Khorhe in markazi province you can find some pillars and remains of a temple or castle made from solid stones  thousands of years ago and you can visit it today. This site is unique and attractive for many cultural national and international tourists today and can be promoted in future as a very important touristic cultural site.
Arak itself has many attractive sites such as arak Jami mosque and other historic sites such as arak old bazar .
Markazi province has many natural sceneries such as “Chal nakhjir” cave near delijan city and is famouse because of its natural beauties.
“Haftad Holleh” national park is located near arak and is very important because of its flora and fauna and wild animals like different sheep as trans Caspian wild sheep, red sheep, Armenian sheep and deer and wild ibex and other wild animals which is very interesting to watch by adventure tourists.

Culture and customs of markazi

People of Delijan speak in a very special dialect which is similar to the old fashion language of the Persian empire 2000 years ago. Their dialect is very close to the language of Abyaneh and old cities in the province which is similar to Pahlavi’s old language and it is not understandable by normal Persian language today. 

How to arrange your itinerary?

Visiting Arak and the central province is a little tricky.
Before everything it is better to consult a local guide to arrange your accommodation. Finding a good hotel is a little hard.Our professionals will help you to find out the best program according to your needs and your taste. We support you before and during your travel to markazi iran province. You can find us on sanapersian.travel site or on our social media pages .

Best time to travel to markazi

In different parts of markazi province you can find different climates. do not forget to understand that this part of Iran is located in the central desert of Iran. It is freezing in winter and hot like a real furnace in summer. The best time to visit markazi province is in spring and fall. In spring all of the trees and flowers are blooming and you can find the real start of life in this desert.

(Sana Persian tour and travel service provider group)