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City in West Azerbaijan province, Iran
Photo: Anna-Freud, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Urmia is the capital of West Azerbaijan province, in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. It is known by its nicknames as the "Cradle of Water" and "Paris of Iran".
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The second saltiest lake in the world. You can go swimming and you will flow on the water.
An archaeological museum.
کلیسای حضرت مریم
The first church in the East built by the magi who made the journey to Jerusalem to see Jesus Christ.
سه گنبد ارومیه
The Three Domes Tower is in an alley branched off the Ostad Barzegar Street in the southeastern part of Urmia.
مسجد جامع ارومیه
Urmia's Friday Mosque is in the middle of Urmia Bazaar. It has a vast courtyard and a large brick Shabestan (covered area), roofed in the middle part with a high dome.
The Urmia Bazaar is in the southeastern corner of Urmia. The major part of the bazaar which remains intact is flanked by the Imam (Asgarabadi), Eghbal and Mahabad (Montazeri) streets.
Band is a village alongside the route to Piranshar, which is one of the major places for going out in Urmia. Here you can drink tea, smoke water pipe, eat kebab and enjoy long and warm evenings in summer time.
The Marserkis Church is one of the stone structures of the province. The roof and all walls are skillfully and solidly built with stones of irregular shapes.
Built in the Qajar dynasty by Abd-o-Samad Khan, father of Agha Khan and great grandfather of Azim-o-Saltaneh Sardar, Sardar Mosque is situated some 500 m away from the Friday Mosque. In 1951, the latter installed a big clock on top of the entrance door, which is why it is also called the Sa’atlu (clock) Mosque.
Displays the animals native to the vicinity of Urmia.
The Doquz Pelleh Ice House is situated by a little spring called “Darreh Chay” in an old district of Urmia called “Asgar Khan”. Doquz means “9” in Turkish. The ice house was regularly harvested by the people of Urmia before the city expanded to its present shape. Also, the Chaharshanbe Suri ceremonies used to be held beside the little pool some 40 m away from the spot where the spring water flows into the ice house.
هتل بین المللی پارک
By train
By car
By the bridge over the Urmia lake you can reach Tabriz within 1½ hours.
By bus
There are daily buses from Van in Turkey and Arbil in Iraq and also to Tehran, Tabriz and major Western Iranian cities.
By boat
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Urmia · Regional · OMH
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