Ramsar; the unique paradise in Mazandaran

Extracted from Rasekhoon
In the western part of Mazandaran province, there is a city called Ramsar which is the nearest city to Gilan province. Ramsar is one of the most beautiful cities in Iran, with a distance of 115 kilometers to Rasht, 255 kilometers to Sari, and 278 kilometers to Tehran. In order to go to Ramsar we need to get to the Karaj highway and get ourselves to the beautiful and circuitous road of Chalous. From there, we gradually reach the tunnel of Kandovan and after passing through Siah Bishe and several other small towns and small villages we reach Marzanabad to reach Ramsar, still there are Namak Abrud and Motel Qu and several other cities on our way and near Ramsar The first thing that welcomes us is the small airport and the national garden. We can easily say that the city among the cities of the Caspian coastline, is the only city that the distance between the forest and the sea is at about 1 km. Cone-shaped forest peaks are located along the sea and the city, and the Safarood River is in the middle of the city.
Wildlife and animal diversity of Ramsar is due to the presence of massive forests and wild mountains and rangelands, and it is the habitat of wildlife such as bear, pig, leopard, goat, fox, rabbit, wolf, roe deer , marten, ewe and ... And the Mazandaran tiger used to live in these forests in the past. Some historians believe that the inhabitants of the first Iranian coastal regions of Iran were native Asian tribes, and it is said that the ancient name of this land is Porestan. Then the Aryans migrated to Asia due to good weather conditions, and the first Aryan tribes settled in this place. Due to its special geographical location and its location on the border of Gilan and Mazandaran provinces, Ramsar has dialect of Gilaki Ramsari, which distinguishes it from the dialect of the Gilan and Mazandaran people, and is a mixture of Mazani and Gilaki, which these days, like other parts of Iran, because of prevalence of false culture is declining. The city was built from several districts and villages from a long time ago that were known as Sakht Sar, and in fact, Ramsar's area in ancient times was called Garmeh Rud, and after that until the extinction of the Qajars it was called Sakht Sar or Sukhteh Sar, and one of the reasons for this naming was the presence of limestone and hard lands. At the same time, according to the people, the name implies that in the distant past, Ramsar never remembers that his people surrendered to the dictators of their time and fought with all stubbornness, but in the time of Reza Shah and, according to him, they called the people Ram and the city Ramsar. From the year 1300 AD, Ramsar was given more attention by the construction of new luxurious and refreshing buildings, as well as warm mineral springs along with attractive natural scenery. Since then, the city has been expanding and today has a population of more than 30 thousand people. Coastal beaches, the old Ramsar hotel, Ramsar Palace, Jahar Deh and the Markouh castle are the most important and most spectacular parts of Ramsar.
Mohammad Sharbat Darr, Director of Ramsar Azadi Hotels, emphasizing the efforts of the people in charge of old hotel of Ramsar in preserving this historical monument says on the history of the hotel: "The history of this hotel dates back to 1310, and it was exploited in 1313. The designer was an Iranian-Armenian engineer who had completed his education in architecture in Germany, called Gharibian. The hotel is designed with pre-Islamic art and modern art of German. Considering the importance of preserving this work as a monument, as well as the materials used in this building, which is generally wood, as well as the humidity of the northern climate, we will do our utmost to protect it from any damage. Regarding the natural location and natural attractions of Ramsar, there are many spectacular walkways and natural spots in and around the city, including the Safarood Forest Park, 9 km from Ramsar and near the Javaher Deh road where the mineral water springs are located. Dalkhani Forest Park, 30 km southwest of Ramsar, along the Jannat Rudbar road and the forest hills which are suitable for hunting and hiking. In addition, the magnificent villas and citrus gardens and kiwi gardens, the village of Javaher Deh is 25 km southwest of Ramsar, and at the foot of the Samam peak where ancient monuments can be seen, and the hot and cold springs of Ramsar which are very famous and Ramsari people believe that the use of this hot water in the form of bathing and washing the mouth is very beneficial for healing bone pain and joints pains, diabetes, heart disease, nervous and blood pressure and also cold water springs are now available to tourists hygienically and through plumbing. There are also spectacular and historical monuments. There are many great hostels in Ramsar and the Great Ramsar Hotel is one of the most spectacular one of them in the middle of a luxurious garden on a forest hill facing the city. The tomb of Agha Seyyed Mohammad, Imam Zadeh Seyyed Taghi, the mosque and the school of Abdul Bagi Khan, the Adine Mosque, and Asa Sa'id Javaher Deh and the castle of Para Nisa are among the other attractions of this city. If we want to compare the different points of the country in terms of tourist attraction statistics, it is easy to find that the northern parts of the country are the most popular in Iran, which may be due to the fact that the distance between cities and villages in this part of Iran is very low. And travelers can easily visit the sea at a quarter to a half hour, and see the mountains.
Ramsar is one of the most prestigious and most beautiful nature areas in northern Iran, and is the only northern city in the country where mountains and sea are much closer to each other than other cities, and in most of the seasons the city welcomes tourists, like the rest of the country. The middle of May is probably one of the best times to travel to Ramsar, which has a good weather and watching orange blooms can elevate tourists. The pleasant weather in this area also attracts tourists in June, and in July, Ramsari people host travelers who escape from the warmth of their city and spend their summer holiday in the area, and although guest is very dear to Iranians, sometimes it is seen that dear guests are not very diligent in maintaining homes clean and suitable. the travelers who come to Ramsar by not paying attention to entertainment centers to protect the environment and keep the sanitation clean in some areas, especially in forest parks, has occasionally led to pollution in spite of trash bins and garbage collection facilities in the corners of these areas and wastes and trashes are seen everywhere. In Ramsar and the villages nearby the production of handicrafts and households is widespread and many of them earn money in this way. The abundance of raw materials needed to make handicrafts is one of the most important factors in the expansion of these industries in Ramsar. The construction of decorative items with wood, making night sheet and handmade cloths has stopped due to harness and a long time spending on them. Felt making and weaving are also being destroyed because of their inability to compete with carpets woven by machines. Qadak Bafi, a kind of local handmade textiles, are other handicrafts from Ramsar, which is a good souvenir for tourists. Handicrafts, as well as all the agricultural and livestock products of the city including vegetables, marinades and fresh and fragrant local fruits to dairy products, Fish, ducks and eggs are presented in the traditional market, known by name of weekdays.
In Ramsar, Saturdays and Tuesdays in Sadat city, and Wednesdays and Mondays in Katalom are considered the day of the market. Though it is a small city in comparison to the big cities of Iran, it has many libraries, cultural and sports centers, some dating back to more than 40 years ago and therefore it is very famous. The land of Iran is perhaps one of the rarest countries in the world in terms of tourist attractions and ecotourism, which has four seasons of year in different regions, and some of these areas are still pristine, but they still do not care much about God's blessings. In the summer of this year, Ramsar’s governor, emphasizing that we currently have the least problems in terms of tourism infrastructure, including amenities, accommodation and recreation in Mazandaran province, said: "In the past, we had many problems in this regard; but fortunately today these problems are way less than before and we also try to solve the rest of the problems”. Mr. Baba Khani besides telling future plans for the development of the city of Ramsar and the plan for the restoration of the deteriorated tissue of the city added: we have a plan for restoration of texture of the city that is under study and we are currently doing some works for creating amenities for tourists. We have greatly expanded the Ramsar airport, which once only small planes landed there.
Due to the geographical location of Ramsar and its unique talent for the development of ecotourism, Mazandaran Iranian Tourist Association is seeking to strengthen tourism infrastructure through the construction and restoration of hotels and residences, as well as creating more recreational centers.