World Heritage Tabriz Grand Bazaar

Listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2010, Tabriz Grand Bazaar is also one of the oldest and largest in the Middle East, and the economic heart of the city and all northwestern Iran. A suggestive string of covered domes, brick walls and endless meandering passageways, Tabriz bazaar sells just about everything you can think of, from a whole selection of nuts, one of the city’s claims to fame, to tightly woven Tabrizi-style carpets. The carpet section is huge and apparently such a big part of the whole deal that women just stay out of it and leave the hardcore bargaining to men. Iran’s oldest city market, the bazaar has been a pivotal commercial hub along the Silk Road, and still now proudly preserves the most traditional ways of conducting local business.