Tafresh ( fa, تفرش, ''Tafreš'') is a city and the capital of

Tafresh County Tafresh County ( fa, شهرستان تفرش, ''Ŝahrestāne Tafreŝ'') is in Markazi province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordere ...

, in Markazi Province, Iran. As of the 2011 census, its population was 25,912 (including 12,884 men and 13,028 women). Tafresh is located amidst high mountains southwest of

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. The flight distance between Tehran and Tafresh is 170 km towards southwest. The average altitude of Tafresh is 1912 meters above sea level, with a

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (a ...

and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

climate with an annual rainfall of 270 mm. Despite its small size Tafresh is known in Iran for being the cradle of science, literature, culture and art, as well as a land of mountains and plains, springs and waterfalls.

History

Tafresh is believed to be one of the oldest regions in the present Markazi province and constituted a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

stronghold in antiquity. A famous general by the name Delaram of Tafresh fought in the defense of

Sasanian Iran The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

during the