Back to the earth in Maymand Village

Back to the earth in Maymand Village
7_Centuries_old_Stone_Houses_in_Iran_11.jpg

Maymand Village in the Kerman province of Iran has been carved out of the rock over the ages. The village has a population of 140, and was recognized by UNESCO in 2005.

The kinds of dwelling-place dug out of the mountains are not of a temporary nature but rather are permanent homes (having been lived in for the last 2000 or 3000 years). The pastoral type architecture (shepherd huts known as kapar or gambeh, and barns or sheepfolds) can be seen here and there about the landscape and is part of the built heritage.

Maymand bears some similarities to Derinkuyu in Turkey.

12 thoughts on “Back to the earth in Maymand Village

  1. Joshua Ellis says:

    Not to be a terribly pedantic nerd or anything, but….

    You mention that Maymand resembles Derinkuyu, but that’s not precisely correct; Derinkuyu is a completely underground city that’s only accessible by one or two entrances, which are holes in the ground with nothing really above ground at all. So it doesn’t really look like anything.

    However, Maymand *does* look like the rest of Cappadocia (or Kapadokya in the Turkish orthography), the valley in which Derinkuyu is located. Most of the towns in the valley (Urgup, Goreme, etc.) are dug out of rock like this, and in fact look almost identical — I thought this was a picture of one of the Cappadocian towns at first.

    1. Chris Connors says:

      Way cool!
      I have not heard of Cappadocia, but your’re right, it bears a much stronger visual similarity to Maymand than Derinkuyu. All three of these and many others are ancient communities where people carved their homes out of the earth. Some, like Maymand, are still lived in by modern day communities.
      Here are some links about Cappoadocia in modern day Turkey:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia
      http://www.cappadociaturkey.net/
      http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/travel/09next.html
      http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/turkey/cappadocia.html
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

      1. Eleonora says:

        it looks like Sassi di Matera, houses and cavern dug in the rock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera

  2. Inventorjack says:

    This is really fascinating. I’d love to take a trip down this valley and see the various towns.

  3. Shadyman says:

    I imagine they benefit from the effects of geothermal and solar heat for natural heating and cooling. Cool :)

  4. Goli Mohammadi says:

    These are so cool to see in person. I was in Kerman in December. From afar, it seems as if the mind is playing tricks, like they are just part of the natural landscape. Thanks for sharing!

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