Nishapur

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Nishapur نیشابور Raēvant (رَئِوَنْت),[1] Abarshahr (اَبَرشهر), Shadiyakh (شادیاخ)[2]
City
Neyshabur
From top to bottom & from left to right: Mausoleum of Omar Khayyám, Shah Abbasi Caravansarai, Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur, Imamzadeh Mohammad Mahrouq & Khayyam's garden, An archeological discovery of Nishapur, Bagh-e Meli of Nishapur, Khanate Mansion of Amin Islami, Kamal Al-Molk Tomb and the Wooden Mosque of Nishapur.
Seal
Nickname(s):  Sassanid and Umayyed era: Abarshahr (Upper Cities), Little Damascus (According to Ibn Battuta),[3] The City of Turquoise, The City of Gardens
Nishapur Show map of Iran Nishapur Show map of West and Central Asia
Coordinates: 36°12′22″N 58°47′36″E / 36.20611°N 58.79333°E / 36.20611; 58.79333[4]
Country	Iran
Province	Razavi Khorasan
County	Nishapur
District	Central
Historical Region	Khorasan
Founded	5500 B.C.
Municipality of Nishapur	1931
Founded by	Shapur I
Government
• Type	Governorate, Mayor & City Council
• Mayor	Hassan Mirfani
• Governor of County	Mahdi Davandeh[5]
Elevation	1,250 m (4,100 ft)
Population  (2016)[6]
• City	264,375
Demonym(s)	Nishapuri, Nishaburi or Neyshaburi
Time zone	UTC+03:30 (IRST)
Area code	051
Website	neyshabur.ir
Member of the LHC and the ICCN

Nishapur (Persian: نیشاپور, also نیشابور^ⓘ)^[a] is a city in the Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district.^[10]

Nishapur is the second-largest city^[11] of the province in the northeast of Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of Binalud Mountain Range. It has been the historic capital of the Western Quarter^{[citation needed]} of Greater Khorasan, the historic capital of the 9th-century Tahirid dynasty, the initial capital of the 11th-century Seljuk Empire, and is currently the capital city of Nishapur County and a historic Silk Road city^[12] of cultural and economic importance in Iran and the region of Greater Khorasan.

At the 2006 census, Nishapur's population was 205,972 in 56,652 households.^[13] The following census in 2011 counted 239,185 people in 71,263 households.^[14] The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 264,375 people in 83,143 households.^[6] It is the third most-populous city in the eastern provinces of Iran after Mashhad and Zahedan.

Nearby are turquoise mines that have supplied the world with turquoise of the finest and the highest quality^[15] for at least two millennia.

The city was founded in the 3rd century by Shapur I as a capital city of Sasanian satrapy known as Abarshahr or Nishapur.^[16] Nishapur later became the capital of Tahirid dynasty and was reformed by Abdullah Tahir in 830, and was later selected as the capital of Seljuk dynasty by Tughril in 1037. From the Abbasid era to the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center within the Islamic world. Nishapur, along with Merv, Herat and Balkh, was one of the four great cities of Greater Khorasan and one of the greatest cities of the Old World in the Islamic Golden Age with strategic importance,^[17] a seat of governmental power in the eastern section of caliphates, a dwelling place for diverse ethnic and religious groups and a trading stop on commercial routes from Transoxiana, China, Iraq^[18] and Egypt.

Nishapur reached the height of its prosperity under the Samanids in the 10th century but was destroyed and most of its population was slaughtered by the Mongols in 1221. This massacre, combined with subsequent earthquakes^[19] and other invasions, is believed to have destroyed the city several times. Unlike its near neighbor Merv, Nishapur managed to recover from these cataclysmic events, and survive until the present day as an active modern city and county in tourism, agriculture, health care, industrial production and commerce^[20] in Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran; however, many of its older and historical archeological remains are left to be uncovered.

The modern city of Nishapur is composed of three main administrative areas/districts (Persian: منطقه های شهر نیشابور) and is surrounded by many villages which are joining in to the urban area and structure of the city. The Area/district 1 of the city comprises the newer urban developments (initiated mostly in the 1980s and the 1990s) made to the north of the Road 44 and is home to the most of the main higher educational institutions of Nishapur such as the University of Neyshabur and the IAUN. The Area/district 2 of the city comprises the downtown of the city and the older and more historic urban structures situated on the south of the Road 44. It is home to some of the main tourists attractions of the city such as the National Garden of Nishapur and the Khanate Mansion of Amin Islami. The Area/district 3 of the city is home to the ruins and the remains of the ancient city of Nishapur destroyed by Mongols in the Middle Ages and is located on the south and the southeast of the city. The third district of the city is a national and registered protected archeological area by law^[21] and any unauthorized archeological excavation is considered illegal. This district is also home to the burial and historical monuments (some are shown on the city infobox) of most of the renowned persons of the city throughout history such as the Mausoleum of Omar Khayyám^[22] and the Mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur. The third district is also used as one of the main touristic hotspots of the city.

Many of this city's archeological discoveries are held and shown to the public in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the British Museum in London, the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, other international museums and the museums of the city of Nishapur.^[23][24][25] The city of Nishapur is also a member of international organizations such as the LHC and the ICCN UNESCO.^[26]

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