The successive civilizations of Persia were among the most potent and creative in Asia, and have provided the West with some of our most evocative images – of distant caravanserais and immense vaulted bazaars, of poets and rose gardens, of turquoise domes and priceless carpets. The very names of the cities breathe magic: Shiraz, Persepolis, Isfahan.

But the images are no mere symbols of a distant past. Historic Persian ways of life and the monuments which sheltered and articulated them are alive in Iran today. The fabulous mosques of Isfahan, the bustle of great bazaars, immense armies of nomads on the move or the magic of classical gardens bring Persia’s civilization vividly to life.

But Persia was virtually hidden from foreigners for some years after the 1979 revolution. Iran underwent cataclysmic upheavals: a national uprising against one of the strongest rulers in the world, a revolution with repercussions that still reverberate to this day, and one of the most destructive wars of the twentieth century. From these trials, triumphs and tragedies the Iranians have emerged much changed, but they are eager to show their country to the traveller once more.

Visitors to Iran can see some of the greatest sights in all Asia, such as Shah Abbas’s astonishing royal city of Isfahan, one of the great monumental cities of the world, or the silent ruins of Pasargadae and Persepolis, still much as Alexander’s destructive fury left them thousands of years ago. But equally interesting are the lesser-known splendours of Iran’s immensely rich heritage revealed by exploration of the old desert cities such as Yazd.

The friendliness and welcome which visitors receive come as a surprise after three decades of less than agreeable newspaper headlines. Whilst the revolution has brought about great changes, the essentials remain unchanged: the timeless landscapes, the villages, the great cities and the cultural heritage that includes not only outstanding architecture but also the poetry of Hafez, Sa’di, Ferdowsi and Omar Khayyam.