TEHRAN – The ancient city of Rey, southern Tehran, could be developed into a tourism hub through the integration of its tourism attractions, a member of the Iranian parliament has said.

This area has three different tourism complexes, including the historical site of Cheshmeh-Ali, the historical cemetery of Ibn Babawayh and the Seljuk-era Toghrol Tower, which, if linked together, would create a tourism hub in Ray, CHTN quoted Seyyed Ali Yazdikhah as saying on Monday.

Cheshmeh-Ali, literally meaning Spring of Ali, embraces an underground mineral stream that pours into an open-air pool that has long been a destination for sightseers and a recreational center for the locals. During the summer, the site is occupied by hundreds of locals who came for swimming and having fun.

Cheshmeh-Ali is in the neighborhood of the ancient Ibn Babawayh cemetery, the 12th-century Toghrol Tower, the historical Rashkan Castle, and next to the aged Rey Castle. Another attraction of the site is a 19th-century rock-carved relief that overlooks the pool. The artwork was commissioned by the Qajar king Fath Ali Shah, who reigned from 1797 to 1834. Cheshmeh Ali also contains an archaeological site estimated to date from the 4 millennium BC.

Ibn Babawayh is a vast historical cemetery in which many Iranian figures have been laid to rest. It is named after Ibn Babawayh who was an Islamic theologian and the author of one of the “Four Books” that are the basic authorities for the doctrine of Twelver Shi’ism.

Also called Sheikh Saduq, Ibn Babawayh, whose full name is given as Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Husayn ibn Musa al-Qummi, was born in c. 923 CE, Khorasan, northeast Iran, and he died in Ray in 991.

Originally built during the reign of Samanids (819-999), the cemetery has been ruined many times, and for various reasons, such as the Mongol invasion (1219-1221 CE), several civil wars, and also natural disasters.

Toghrol Tower is often overlooked by visitors who tend to stick to the higher-income northern and central areas of the Iranian capital.

The tower is said to serve as the mausoleum for Seljuk king Toghrol Beg, who established Rey as a major administrative center of the Seljuk Dynasty until its destruction by Mongol armies in the early 13th century.

Rey was one of the capital cities of the Parthian empire (3rd century BC–3rd century CE) and it was captured by the Muslim Arabs in 641 CE. During the reign of the Muslim caliph al-Mahdi in the 8th century, the city grew in importance until it was rivaled in western Asia only by Damascus and Baghdad.

According to Britannica, Islamic writers described it as a city of extraordinary beauty, built largely of fired brick and brilliantly ornamented with blue faience (glazed earthenware). It continued to be an important city and was briefly a capital under the rule of the Seljuks, but in the 12th century, it was weakened by the fierce quarrels of rival religious sects. In 1220, the city was almost destroyed by the Mongols, and its inhabitants were massacred. Most of the survivors of the massacre moved to nearby Tehran, and the deserted remnants of Rey soon fell into complete ruin.

ABU/AM