Masouleh

Masuleh, the Stepped village

Masuleh, is one of the stepped villages in Iran which is interesting destination for all seasons. In spring, summer, autumn, even in winter it has its attractive. The city is located in Gilan province and Fuman County.

The architecture of the staircase villages is such that the courtyard of one house is the roof of another, so there is no street for cars.

History

This city is registered as the first live historical city in Iran. The history of the city is come back to Zand dynasty.

In the old days, before the construction of a new road between Gilan and Azerbaijan, this city was one of the most important trade centers, eight caravanserais which is located in this road, emphasizing this issue. The economy of the Masuleh on the commercial highway was based on trading in the metal and wood industries. These days, the economy of Masuleh is based on tourism.

Old Masuleh, was located eight kilometers west of Masuleh to Khalkhal Road, and it was the primary settlement of the Masuleans, whose only stone wall is now there.

There have been various comments on the movement of the Masuleans to their current location: At first it is told that this movement was because of holy shrine (Aun ibn Ali), when Aun ibn Ali (one of the descendants of the first Imam of the Shiites) received to the city, were died as result of war injuries. Gradually, inhabitants built houses around his tomb, which created the current Masuleh. Some people believe that the great earthquake in 890 AH is the excuse of this migration. Another narrative cites the Plague in 943 AH as the reason for the displacement.

The city lost most of its population as a result of the construction of a new road linking Gilan and Azerbaijan, as well as famine in the city. The caravansaries of the North and Azerbaijan highways of communication collapsed and the markets for metal and leather industries lost their boom.
Subsequently, most wealthy people moved to the capital and other major cities or abroad.

Also, after Masuleh was registered as a Natural and Cultural Heritage, the Cultural Heritage Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency did not allow construction and development of the city. So later generations also gradually migrated to the surrounding towns and cities as well as Tehran.