Things to Do in Kashan, Iran: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Kashan include exploring historic mansions, ancient archaeological sites, Persian gardens, mosques and the city’s covered bazaar. Kashan combines more than 7,500 years of settlement with beautifully preserved Qajar-era architecture and living traditions of craftsmanship. Neywo has a free audio guide for Kashan with 18 narrated places, so you can discover the city while you walk.

What to See in Kashan

Tepe Sialk

Tepe Sialk is one of the oldest and most important archaeological sites on the Iranian plateau. Near Fin Garden, its two mounds preserve a sequence of settlements from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Proto-Elamite and Iron Age periods.

The earliest known remains on the northern mound date to roughly 6000–5700 BC. The southern mound contains a massive stepped mud-brick platform, often called the Sialk Ziggurat, although more recent research describes it more cautiously as a ziggurat-like structure. It dates to around 2900 BC. Two associated cemeteries, Cemetery A and Cemetery B, are about 3,500 and 3,000 years old respectively.

Fin Garden

Fin Garden, or Bagh-e Fin, is one of Kashan’s celebrated Persian gardens. Its design brings together enclosed courtyards, old trees, elegant buildings and an elaborate system of pools, channels, fountains and flowing water.

The surviving complex was completed in 1590 during the Safavid period. It forms part of the group of nine Persian gardens included on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is also recognized as an Iranian national heritage site. Among its features are the Safavid pavilion, the Qajar-era Shotor-Gelu, the Howz-e Joushan boiling pool, the water-distribution area and the Karim Khani private retreat.

Ameri House

Ameri House offers a glimpse into the scale and organization of an important Iranian mansion. Originally built during the Zand era as the residence of Agha Ameri, governor of Kashan, it was rebuilt after earthquake damage in the eighteenth century and expanded during the Qajar period by Seham al-Saltaneh Ameri.

The complex is arranged around several courtyards, including its oldest outer and inner courtyards. These spaces contain water courtyards, eyvans, three-door rooms and seven-door reception rooms. Ameri House covers about 7,000 square metres and contains 85 rooms.

Agha Bozorg Mosque

Agha Bozorg Mosque combines a mosque with a madrasa, or religious school, and is one of central Kashan’s major landmarks. The building is associated with Mulla Mahdi Naraqi the Second, known as Agha Bozorg.

An inscription dates the complex to 1248 in the Islamic calendar, corresponding to 1832 or 1833, while other evidence places its construction between 1844 and 1850 during the reign of Mohammad Shah Qajar. Construction is attributed to the master builder Ustad Haj Sa’ban-ali. The complex stands beside the Khaje Taj od-Din Mausoleum, completed during the fifteenth century.

Jameh Mosque of Kashan

Jameh Mosque of Kashan, also known as Kashan Central Mosque, is the city’s oldest structure. Its roots lie in the Seljuk period, and its only brick minaret rises from the mosque’s southeastern corner.

A Kufic inscription made from raised bricks records the minaret’s construction in 466 Hijri, or 1074. The courtyard contains a pool before an iwan leading towards the domed interior. The mosque also has two large prayer halls at courtyard level and an underground winter prayer hall. Its history includes two mihrabs, including an older, larger mihrab probably dating from the Seljuk era.

Kashan Bazaar

Kashan Bazaar is a covered historic market whose main passage stretches for approximately three kilometres. Associated with the Safavid period and thought to have earlier Seljuk origins, the bazaar has long served as a place for storing goods and conducting economic exchanges.

Its complex includes mosques, tombs, arcades, baths and water reservoirs from different periods. It also contains the Amin od-Dowleh Caravansarai, the Timcheh and Saray-e Bakhshi. Walking through the bazaar reveals how commerce, religious life and traditional architecture developed together in Kashan.

Meydan Mosque

Beside the bazaar on the southern side of Sang-e Ghadimi Square, Meydan Mosque is one of Kashan’s oldest surviving structures. Its original construction probably dates from the Seljuk era. After destruction during the Mongol invasion, it was rebuilt and repaired under Khwaja Emad al-Din.

The entrance portal preserves an original Iranian architectural technique. The mosque once included tall iwans, a large courtyard, a domed space, a shabestan and a hall with a pool, although many of these elements were later destroyed. Its celebrated tiled mihrab was dismantled in the twentieth century and is now held at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin.

Soltani Mosque

Soltani Mosque, also known as مسجد سلطانیه, is a historic place of worship and a registered Iranian national heritage site. It is one of the religious landmarks to notice while exploring Kashan’s historic centre.

Tabrizi Mosque

Tabrizi Mosque, or Tabriziha Mosque, stands in Kashan’s Malek bazarche. This Qajar-era Shi’ite mosque was completed in 1797 by Mohammad Hosseyn Tabrizi and added to Iran’s National Heritage List in 1974.

Its entrance portal is decorated with haft rang ceramic tiles, meaning “seven colors.” Inside, the shabestan’s ceiling is carried by 18 arches decorated with brick and ceramic tiles. Quranic inscriptions appear around the columns and along the prayer hall, while the tiled mihrab features white Thuluth script on a deep blue ground.

Jalali Castle

Jalali Castle, known in Persian as Qaleh-ye Jalali, forms part of a historic complex that also includes nearby ice houses. Located within Kashan’s urban area, the complex dates from the Seljuk period and is recognized as an Iranian national heritage site.

Qazi Asad Mausoleum

At the end of Fazel Naraqi Street, the Qazi Asad Mausoleum—Aramgah-e Qazi Asad—is another protected historic site. It was officially registered as an Iranian national heritage monument on 16 Mordad 1357, under registration number 1631.

Vali Soltan Square

Vali Soltan Square lies at the centre of the Vali Soltan neighbourhood and dates from the Safavid period. The square is recognized as an Iranian national heritage site.

At its centre is a platform once used for mourning ceremonies, ta’zieh performances and other public events. It offers a reminder that Kashan’s historic spaces were designed not only for buildings and trade, but also for collective ceremonies.

Other historic mosques

Kashan’s religious heritage extends beyond its largest monuments. Al-Nabi Mosque, Al-Husayn Mosque on Amir Kabir Street and Baba Vali Mosque are among the city’s other places of worship. Baba Vali Mosque is also recognized as an Iranian national heritage site.

Explore Kashan with a Free Audio Guide

For a Kashan self-guided walking tour, download Neywo and follow the walk “Kashan’s Old Heart: Mansions, Mosques and the Great Bazaar.” It is one walking tour covering 4.29 km, lasting 117 minutes, with 10 narrated stops: Hosseiniyeh Shahzadeh Ali Akbar, Qazi Asad Mausoleum, Jalali Castle, Ameri House, Agha Bozorg Mosque, Jameh Mosque of Kashan, Soltani Mosque, Tabrizi Mosque, Kashan Bazaar and Meydan Mosque.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages. After Kashan, continue exploring Iran and compare the city with nearby destinations such as Isfahan, Tehran, Yazd or Kerman.