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The 1000-year-old citadel located on the bank of the Zayanderud river and has survived natural disasters and many wars for 1000 years. Having very thick walls made of adobe mud brick) made it a protected complex for people living in the region. The thickness of walls varies from 3-4 m and they are about 9 m high. The citadel has an area of 40,000 m². Nowadays, only four families live inside. The citadel is containing four mosques, a pigeon house, a water reservoir, a mill and many houses. It is protected by fourteen round towers and you would enter by two gateways.
Built in 1100 CE. Three centuries later, in the Timurid era, it was extensively renovated. Its splendid Mihrab and all the tile designs at entrance of mosque and around the Mihrab makes the mosque a very special one in this region. You do not have to pay to visit this 600-year-old mosque. Local people say prayer here three times a day. If you do not wish to say prayer with them, wait for some minutes until people leave the mosque before you visit. The door is open from very early morning, until 1 hour after sunset. Though, if there is an occasion, including celebrations, memorial of a recently passed away local person, then mosque might be a bit occupied a couple of hours per day. If there is such an occasion, you would be listening to quite loud voice from the 20-m-high minaret, from almost all of the town. That is actually a function of Jame mosques in Persian post-Islamic age. In particular, on Friday afternoons, you could listen to the speech Imam speaking about religion and recent social, political issues. Like any other religious center around the world, from churches to temples, to enter such mosque wearing modest clothes is necessary. The dome and the minaret of the mosque are clear from almost everywhere in town, therefore it is easy to reach. It is in the centre of town.
The sand dunes are from 5-62 m high. The average height of sandy dunes are highest between deserts of Iran. It makes the landscape spectacular. There is no regular transport from Varzaneh to the desert, which is 15 km away. However, taxis would be quite cheap to take you to desert. The sand dunes usually do not move considerably, so you can camp for several nights there, having an easy access to town. However, except for late spring and summer, the temperature often drops below 10°C and to 10° below freezing in January and February), due to the lack of humidity. Thus, you would need sleeping bags if you want to camp there. The desert is about 45 km across.