Masuleh (; ) is a city in Sardar-e Jangal District of Fuman County,

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Masuleh is approximately 60 km southwest of

Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...

and 32 km west of Fuman. Its people are Talysh. The village is 1,050 meters above sea level in the

Alborz The Alborz ( ) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merge ...

mountain range, near the southern coast of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. The village itself has a difference in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of 100 meters. Although some say the community was established around 10 AD, Old Masuleh dates to 1006 AD, 6 km northwest of the current city (Kohneh Masuleh in Persian). People moved from Old Masuleh to the new site because of pestilence and attacks from neighbouring communities.

Demographics

Language

The native people of Masuleh are Gilak and Talysh, they speak Talysh.

Population

At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 554 in 180 households. The following census in 2011 counted 568 people in 210 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 393 people in 147 households.

Climate

Architecture

Buildings are mostly two stories (1st floor and 'ground' floor), although there are three-story and four-story houses as well. There are four main local communities at the city named: "Maza-var" (meaning beside the Mosque) at the south, "Khana-var" (beside homes) at the East, "Kasha-sar" (stretched on top) at the North, and, "Assa-mahala" (Assad community) at the West. Apparently, down town is the Market (Bazaar) area and also the main mosque of the city, named "O-ne-ben-ne Ali" (Awn Ibn Mohammad Ibn Ali Ibn. Abi Taleb) built in 969 AD. In some of these houses, it has been possible to live in separate apartments in different periods. For example, the Zandipour House, which is now used as an apartment hotel, was accommodated by different families who lived in their separate apartment units for a long time. Each of these units had a separate bathroom and different families lived separately in each of the three floors. However, some three-story houses were occupied by an extended family as the children who were married lived together with their parents in a class structural house.

Girih tiling in buildings of Masuleh

Girih tiling consists of straight and broken lines on a regular basis that could be reasonably expanded in the surface. The historical city of Masuleh is a good model for sustainable architecture and its final aim is respecting the culture and friendly relationship with nature and improving the life style of its residents.

Archaeology

The earliest evidence of human presence in the Masouleh region, Iran, is a Levallois core from the Middle Paleolithic, likely made by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago. This highlights Neanderthal activity in the area. Archaeological survey of the mountain ranges overlooking Masouleh shows that this mountainous region was probably occupied by ancient herders and nomads at least since the late Bronze Age. Remains of late prehistoric, historic, and Islamic times were discovered on the mountain top above 2500 meters above sea lev
(See)
These mountains were used seasonally, at least since the late

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

(5000 BC)

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(2000-1500 BC), which continued during the Iron Age I (1500-1100 BC),

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

III (800-500 BC), Parthian (247 BC to 224 CE),

Buyid The Buyid dynasty or Buyid Empire was a Zaydi and later Twelver Shi'a dynasty of Daylamite origin. Founded by Imad al-Dawla, they mainly ruled over central and southern Iran and Iraq from 934 to 1062. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dyna ...

(943–1029 CE),

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

(1043–1051 CE) and

Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

(1306–1335 CE) era
(tehrantimes)
Archaeologists discovered

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

sherds, animal bones, and stone tools that date back to about 7,000 years ago.

Tourism areas

Waterfalls: Kooshm, Larcheshme, and Kourbar.

Gallery

File:Masuleh Window.jpg, Window of building in Masuleh File:Masuleh Iran Village in the Elburs Mountains.jpg, The yard of the above building is the roof of the below building File:In the way of masuleh.jpg, The nature of Masuleh File:Massouleh, Iran.jpg, Buildings are mostly 2 stories File:Masouleh (Gilan, Iran) 006.jpg

Notes

References

13. Pourali Mostafa and Mansour Falamaki 2015. Understanding Territories, Case Study: MASOULEH, in kashan University press, http://jias.kashanu.ac.ir

External links

Masuleh Pictures
* HORIZIN, ''Masuleh'', Photo Set
flikr
* ''Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization''

WiseItinerary
{{Fuman County, state=collapsed Populated places in Fuman County Cities in Gilan province Tourist attractions in Gilan province