During your travel to Iran’s Ardebil province, make sure to include a visit to its “scary” glass bridge in the timeline if you like to discover a fascinating place in a budget way.

Made of curved sheets of glass, the newly-constructed bridge measures 220 meters in length and connects two hills in Hir district of the northwestern province, which is well-known for having lush natural beauties, cultural heritage sites, and hospitable people.

Inaugurated by Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan in January, the suspension bridge is said to be the first of its kind in the world.

Ardebil is home to many cultural and historical sites as well as natural tourist attractions with breathtaking views in a way it attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from both inside and outside the country every year.

The province is situated in a mountainous region whose altitude averages 3,000 meters above sea level. It is very cold in winter and mild in summer.

Persian historians have ascribed a founding date to the province’s capital (also named Ardebil) in the Sassanid period, but its known history does not begin until the Islamic period. It was at that time the residence of the Sasanian governor. The Umayyad governor made Ardebil his capital, but the Arab hold on the region did not last. Local rulers fought continuously in the area until the Mongol conquest in 1220, when the town was destroyed. It lost all importance until the Sufi mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din made it the center of his Safavid order in the 13th century.

AFM/MG