Zonuraq Village
The stepped village of Zonuraq is located next to the town of the same name in the district of Marand (eastern Azerbāijān region). Here are testimonies of the Ilkhanide and Safavid period; but considering the images of some tombstones in his cemetery, the antiquity of the settlement at Zonuraq can be traced back to Mithraism.
This mountain village, which is the oldest stepped village in Iran, (the roof of the house below is the courtyard of the house above) is surrounded by mountains at a height of about 1700 meters above sea level.
Overall this red colored village with cobbled alleys and houses with straw and mud walls with colored doors and windows (some dating back to the Safavid period), next to the multitude of fruit trees, to numerous springs whose water flows into the courtyard of the houses, in the gardens and in the alleys, and to the women of the village who wear light blue, green, orange and sometimes red clothes, has preserved its historical identity.
Among the attractions in the surroundings we can mention the following: the Damji Ghyeh waterfall, the ancient village cemetery, the Zonuraq fortress, the summer camps of the nomadic Māhār tribes etc ..
Although the villages of Māsouleh, Abyāneh and Pālangān are among the most beautiful and well-known in Iran, Zonuraq, although it contains all their characteristics, is less known.
