The Sepah Street (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: خیابان سپه), also known as the Shohada Street (Persian: خیابان شهدا) is a street in

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

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 ...

. It is the oldest planned street in Iran, built when Qazvin was the capital of Iran's

Safavid empire 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 ...

. The street leads to the Safavid royal complex in Qazvin, and passes next to the

Jameh Mosque of Qazvin The Jāmeh Mosque of Qazvin (; ) is a Shi'ite Friday mosque (''jāmeh''), located in Qazvin, in the Qazvin province of Iran. Completed in 807 CE, it is one of the oldest mosques in Iran, and was added to the Iran National Heritage List on 6 ...

and Imamzadeh Hossein.

Name

During the

Qajar era The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

, the street was known as "Dowlati". The name Sepah was given to the street during the rule of

Reza Shah Pahlavi Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

. In the Persian language "Sepah" means "army". After the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1979, the street was renamed to Shohada street, Shohada meaning "Martyrs", to commemorate the Iranian soldiers killed during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, and to remove the association the previous name had to the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

History

In 1546,

Shah Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

moved 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 ...

capital from

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, which was vulnerable to Ottoman attacks, to

, a more secure location. During this time, many palaces and gardens were created, as well as the building of Imamzadeh Hossein, and the street was created to connect these places. It is the oldest planned street in Iran.{{Cite web, title=تاريخچه معابر شهر قزوين - پورتال شهرداری قزوین, url=https://traffic.qazvin.ir/58, access-date=2021-11-07, website=traffic.qazvin.ir

Gallery

File:Sepah Street-Ghazvin (1).jpg, Tile on the gate to the Safavid royal complex, reading "Sepah Street" File:Sepah Street-Ghazvin (3).jpg, Sepah street File:Sepah street-2.jpg, Entrance to the Jameh mosque of Qazvin as seen from the Sepah street

References

Streets in Iran Qazvin