Editing Iran (section)

=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Iranian architecture|Persian gardens}}
[[File:Chehel_Sotoon.jpg|thumb|[[Chehel Sotoun|Chehel Sotoun Palace]] in [[Isfahan]], built during the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid Empire]] with example of a [[talar]]'','' [[World Heritage Site]]|222x222px]]
The history of architecture in Iran dates back to at least 5,000 BC, with characteristic examples distributed over an area from what is now [[Turkey]] and [[Iraq]] to [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Tajikistan]], and from the [[Caucasus]] to [[Zanzibar]]. The Iranians made early use of [[mathematics]], [[geometry]] and [[astronomy]] in their architecture, yielding a tradition with structural and aesthetic variety.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pope, Arthur Upham |title=Persian Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/persianarchitect0000unse |url-access=registration |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |date=1965 |page=[https://archive.org/details/persianarchitect0000unse/page/266 266] |author-link=Arthur Upham Pope}}</ref> The guiding [[motif (visual arts)|motif]] is its cosmic symbolism.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ardalan, Nader |author2=[[Laleh Bakhtiar|Bakhtiar, Laleh]]. |title=The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture |date=2000 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-1-871031-78-2}}</ref>

Without sudden innovations, and despite the trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it developed a recognizable style distinct from other regions of the Muslim world. Its virtues are "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in [[Vault (architecture)|vault]] and [[Gonbad|dome]] construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivalled in any other architecture".{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} In addition to historic gates, palaces, and mosques, the rapid growth of cities such as Tehran has brought a wave of construction. Iran ranks 7th among [[UNESCO]]'s list of countries with the most archaeological ruins and attractions from antiquity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Virtual Conference |url=http://www1.american.edu/ted/iran-tour.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124090123/http://www1.american.edu/ted/iran-tour.htm |archive-date=24 November 2010 |access-date=18 June 2011 |publisher=American.edu}}</ref>