Mount Soffeh or Kuh-e Soffeh is a mountain that is situated just south of the city of

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, southeast of Mount Donbeh and south of the Zayanderud River in

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 ...

Etymology

The term "soffeh" in Persian is derived from an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word "soffa" that means "stone bench" or "sofa" or "raised platform". But there are different opinions about the origin of the name of this mountain. There is this belief that the name of this mountain comes from the name of a mystic called "Mir Ali-ye Soffeh" who lived and prayed in this mountain in the second half of the seventeenth century during the reign of the

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

king Shah Suleiman I of Persia. This is related to the belief that the mountain was used as a refuge by

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

s or

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

. It is also believed that the word "soffeh" is somehow related to the word "safa" (meaning "purity", "pleasantness" and "enjoyment") or pleasure that is obtained and felt by visiting this mountain. There is also this opinion that "soffeh" is somehow related to the Persian word "spah" or "sepah" (meaning "army") and therefore it is related to the word "spahan" or "sepahan" (meaning a place for the army), which is the etymological origin for the name of Isfahan. And of course, there is this idea that the reason for the name "soffeh" is the existence of a flat raised platform at the foot of the mountain.

Geology

Mount Soffeh is mainly made of

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also * Nizhny {{Disambiguation ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Only a very small narrow section of the lowest part of the mountain is formed chiefly of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

. Mount Soffeh is located in the

Sanandaj Sanandaj (; ) is a city in the Central District of Sanandaj County, in the Kurdistan province of Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. With a population of 414,069, it is the second largest Kurdish city a ...

- Sirjan geological and structural zone, a geologic zone that is in the east and parallel to the

Zagros The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

geological and structural zone.

Geography

With an elevation of 2257 metres, Mount Soffeh is the nearest mountain which is situated just south of the city of Isfahan. The mountain was a few kilometres far from Isfahan, but with the expansion of the city, now it is just located at the southern part of the city. This mountain is about 590 metres high from the ground level. There are some small water springs in Mount Soffeh. On the eastern side of Mount Soffeh there are a series of hills.

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

road passes through these hills. There are remnants of a few ruined buildings which might have been used as some sorts of

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

s and fire temples in the distant past (see Shahdiz). Mount Soffeh and its surrounding hills have been converted to a beautiful

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

which covers at least 100 hectares. A wonderful panoramic view of the metropolitan city of Isfahan can be seen from the mountain especially at night. The mountain is the closest slope for some citizens of Isfahan who practice

mountain climbing Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

. There is a small zoo with a few wild animals and birds at the foot of the mountain. There are also restaurants, a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...

cable cars and other recreational facilities.Mount Soffeh description, www.isfahan.ir

References

{{coord, 32.5956, N, 51.6436, E, source:wikidata, display=title Soffeh Landforms of Isfahan province Mountains of Isfahan Province