University of Tabriz at a Glance

University of Tabriz at a Glance 

Established in June 1946, the state-run University of Tabriz is the second oldest University of Iran and the biggest academic institution in northwest of the country. Since the early stages of its formation, it has always been playing a significant role in scientific, social and cultural existence of the nation. University of Tabriz is now educating more than 14000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, with 517 academic staff of whom 327 are Ph.D. holders. Out of this teaching staff, 45 are full professors, 62 are associate professors, 220 are assistant professors and the remaining are instructors. A body of over 1000 personnel is supporting academic activities.  

With having one higher educational complex, 13 faculties, 2 colleges, one school and 68 departments, The university of Tabriz now covers a total of 9 fields of study in Associate-Diploma, 69 fields of study in Bachelors degree, 92 fields of study in Masters degree and 66 specialized fields of study in Ph.D. among the total number of students now exceeding 14000, engaged in studying various major and specific fields and disciplines, some 569 students are studying for associate diploma, 9825 for undergraduate degree (including evening courses), 1726 for graduate degree, and 455 students are accomplishing their Ph.D. requirements. The University of Tabriz has the honor to have educated a great number of gifted students, now engaged as experts, teachers, university professors, scientists and managers.  

University Tabriz with a valuable record of sixty years in education and research, has currently several research centers, including Center for Applied Physics and Astronomical Research, Biotechnology Center for Pharmaceutical Herbs, Research Center for Fundamental Sciences, Geographic Research Center, three Scholars Research Center (Se-Allameh Tabrizi), Center for Social Research, Research Center for History and Culture as well as Khaje- Nassir-Addin Tousi Observatory.

Thanks to its scientific and research potentials and capabilities, The University of Tabriz is now recognized as Center of Excellence for six specialized fields of “Geographical Studies of Northwest Iran”, “Biology”, “Mechatronics”, “Molecular Plant Breeding (MPB)”, “New Materials and Clean Chemistry”, and “Photonic & Plasma”.

The campus, enjoying an exceptional location, is a single, self-contained site spread over an area of 585 hectares with plenty of open green areas between the buildings. It is situated at the eastern end of the city of Tabriz on the Tehran highway, commanding an excellent view of mountains on the north. It enjoys an open and hilly green landscape to the south, south east and south west, providing appropriate ground for future expansion and development. A total area of
about 323895 m² has been allocated for educational spaces and buildings
.

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Student Statistics (Regular and Evening Courses)

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Historical City of Tabriz         

Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province lies at 46′ and 25″ eastern longitude and 38′ and 2″ northern latitude. With an altitude of 1340 meters above sea level, Tabriz is spread over an area of 11800 square kilometers. The city is situated in the middle of Azerbaijan domain to the northeast of Urmiyeh Lake, 619 kilometers northwest of Tehran and 150 kilometers west of Jolfa, a town on the northern borderline between Tabriz and Azerbaijan Republic.

Tabriz is located on the intercontinental highway in vicinity to the Republics of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. Tabriz for a long time lay on a major trade route between the West and Asia and for many centuries it was a flourishing center of commercial trade. Outside Tabriz, there is a lot of attractive countryside with hills, valleys and mountains that can be reached quickly and easily. These hills are summer and winter resorts.

With a population exceeding 1.5 million, Tabriz is situated in a valley stretched the east to the west, bounded by the snow-capped Sahand Mountain on the west, and the reddish-purple Ainali (Oane-Abne-Ali) mountain on the northeast.Aji Chai River (talkhe Rood) flows through the north and northeastern part of Tabriz into Urmiyeh Lake; and Mehran River, now dried-up for most part of the year, used to stream all the way through Tabriz. The city enjoyed beautiful and vast orchards with so many springs and Ganats (subterranean canals) in the past, most of which, however, have already been destroyed with the development of urbanism

Historical city of Tabriz or “Tauris”, as Europeans would call in old times, is widely believed to be one of the most ancient cradles of civilization in Azerbaijan and plateau of Iran. It was the capital of Atropatene, named after Atropates, one of the generals of Alexander the Great. We know the discovered historical documents that the name; Tauris, for the first time, has been mentioned in an epigraph inscribed on an old stone tablet considered as belonging to Sargon (II), king of Assyria (714 BC). In this ancient inscription, the king reports of a strong castle called “Tauroei”. Today most archaeologists and historians believe this castle was situated on the site of the present city of Tabriz. On the basis of the writings of some famous historians, researchers, and travelers such as Marco Polo, Chevalier Chardin, Harold Lamb, Iean Babtiste Tavernier and Ebne Batute, the old city of Tabriz with a population exceeding 1.2 million in the Middle Ages, was one of the biggest, richest and most important centers of commerce in the world. According to some other reports, there were as many as 200,000 residential houses in the city of Tabriz at the time.

The city lies within an active earthquake belt; As a result of this inescapable situation it has suffered severely over the centuries. It was re-built in 791 AD after being devastated by a catastrophic earthquake but similar disasters followed in 858, 1042, 1721 and 1780, to claim the life of thousands of people, leaving a completely ruined city.

Near the end of 13th century, Tabriz became the capital of Mongol IL-Khan Empire. Marco Polo, who visited the city in 1270, called “Tauris” (Tabriz) a great and noble city. In 1392 it was occupied by Timor (Tamerlane), a Turkic conqueror and some decades later the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen made Tabriz their capital. Early in the 16th century it was briefly the capital of Safavid dynasty of Iran until 1548, when Shah Tahmasb (I) moved his capital to Qazvin. The city, however, lay directly in the path of the warring armies of Iran and the Ottaman Empire; thus frequently suffered heavy loses. Due to these ever-present unstable conditions, the city failed to regain its early prosperity, although during the 19th and early 20th centuries it was traditional for the crown princes of the Qajar dynasty to live in Tabriz.

Among the cities of Iran, perhaps none is as renowned as Tabriz. Especially after the beginning of the constitutional era, when it achieved all those heroic victories in those revolutionary movements, Tabriz gained more prominence both in Iranian and European newspapers. Constitutional Revolution originated in Tabriz and culminated during the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah of Gajar Dynasty (1779-1925). Sattar Khan and Bager Khan were the two most prominent leading figures behind the movement. The name Tabriz has been one of the most famous terms in Iran\'s geography and in each century its name has been synonymous with momentous historic events.

With a very rich history, Tabriz used to house many historical monuments. Unfortunately many of them were destroyed in wars, natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, as well as negligence of the ruling governments. There are, however, still remains of several historical monuments for visitors dating back to the Ilkhanids, Safavids, and the Qajars, such as Ark Alishah (1316-1335), Kabud Mosque (1465), Bazar, promenade Elgoli with its lake and building, city hall and some other interesting places. Tabriz is also famous for its handicrafts (especially Azerbaijan artistic carpets). There is an archaeological and handicrafts museum in which antiquities Azerbaijan and other areas are on display.

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Cost of living in Tabriz 

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Historical Places and monuments in Tabriz

• Ark or Citadel of Tabriz:   \'Ark-e Tabriz\' in Persian (also called Masjid-e Alishah, Arg-e Alishah) is the impressive remainder of a great and imposing building in the town. The Arg, a huge and crumbling brick citadel, is a notable landmark that was built in the early 14th century on the site of a massive mosque which collapsed over 500 years ago, and which must been one of the largest ever constructed.  Inside the Citadel there is nothing except two arches and an indication of the position of the mehrab; Ali Shah’s court has been covered with ignoble buildings, the sanctuary walls have been rebuilt and propped up, and it is hard to believe that any part of this place was ever a mosque.
• Constitution House: located next to the Tabriz grand bazaar, on Motahari av.   During the years which led to the Constitutional Revolution and afterwards, the house was used as the gathering place of the leaders, activists, and the sympathizers of the movement, among them Sattar Khan, Baqer Khan, Seqatoleslam and Haji Mirza Aqa Farshi. The two-story building was constructed in 1868 by Haj Vali Me’mar-e Tabrizi. It has numerous rooms and halls. The most beautiful part of the house is a skylight and a corridor decorated with colourful glasses and mirrors.
• Blue Mosque: (or Masjid-e Kabud) on the north side of town, is a 15th-century structure destroyed partially by one of Tabriz\'s recurrent earthquakes. The entrance portal with its two minarets appears to have been connected with the main prayer hall (Shabestan) under the largest cupola of the mosque, by means of vaulted corridor.  On both sides along the corridor, there stand the remains of the chambers with vaulted roofs.  The walls of the mosque have been riveted with marble slabs and decorated with superb mosaic tiles.  Some of the blue mosaics in the mosque\'s portal are heavily damaged and half missing.
• Ostad and Shagerd Mosque: This mosque, including a theological school dates back to 1340,  and was founded by Amir Sheikh Hassan Kushak. It was destroyed and renovated during the Qajar dynasty.
• King Hassan Mosque: (or Hassan Padeshah) it was built in the 15th century and is located beside the Saheb-Abad square; the adjacent theological school was partially demolished in 1966.
• Sadeqiyeh Mosque: it is located on the northern part of the main bazaar. The construction of the mosque was completed in 1657 at the time of Safavid king, Shah Abbas II. The monument has a sanctuary with columns and a number of cells.
• Golestan gardens:   Also called the National Park, the garden is one of the main recreation centres of the city and covers an area of 53,000 square meters.  It was built some 70 years ago and has many huge pools surrounded by green and trees.
• El Goli / Shah-Goli:  a pleasant hillside garden and park around an artificial lake to the area of 54,675 square meters.  El Goli, only 4 km south of downstream Tabriz, is so lovely a place that it deserves an illustration.  It is a popular weekend resort for the locals (there is a hotel at El Goli). A hill in the eastern side of the park leads down to the pool with steps, and a fountain top of the hill flows down to the pool.  In the center of the pool there is a grand hexagonal building.  The pool itself is said to have been built during the reign of Aq Qoyunlu kings.  However, it was extended by the Safavids.
• Azerbaijan Museum:  inaugurated in 1962, is on  Khomeini av. (next to the Blue Mosque).  With an area of 300 square meters, it consists of three main halls in which historical articles, costumes of various tribes of Iran, works of renowned calligraphers, as well as a collection of pictures, tracts, declarations, documents, and personal articles of the leaders of the Constitutional Revolution are on display.
• Bazaar: Strolling in the centre of Tabriz, one is reminded very forcibly that it is a commercial city: one cannot miss its very large and 15th-century covered bazaar. It is already much diminished in its variety of goods, but still a great place for getting hopelessly lost amid its dusty architectural splendours. Its architectural style, numerous caravanserais, mosques, and schools have added further beauty and glory to this complex. Exact information on the history and origin of the bazaar is not available; however, historical buildings such as the Jam’s Mosque, Talebieh School, and Sadeqieh School indicate that the complex is one of the oldest structures of the city. The present structure of bazaar dates back to the closing years of the Zand dynasty (1750-1779 AD).
• Poets Mausoleum - Maqbaratoshoara: interesting modern architecture using concrete - a Trabizi pantheon for the local intelligentsia, in particular poets. Great attention is dedicated to Iranian Azeri poet Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, famous for his Azeri work \'Heydar Babaya Salam\' and a supporter of the Islamic regime.
• Behnam House: elegant residence built at the end of Zandiyeh dynasty. Some parts of it the survived earthquake in Tabriz in 1780 (lunar year of 1194).
• This building contains a summer house and winter house.
  Amir Nezam House:  the Qajar Museum of Tabriz - historical building in the Shesh-gelan district, one of the oldest quarters of the city. The edifice covers an area of 1200 square metres. Built in the period of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza (1789-1833). During 1993-2006 it was subject to an extensive renovation process and has been granted the National Heritage status.

• Kandovan Village: known as the Iranian Cappadocia, it is located in a cold mountainous area at 50 kms south of Tabriz and on the slopes of Sahand Mountain.  Kandovan\'s claim to fame results its cone shaped mountains with troglodyte homes. It is very cold for about 9 months of the year, however the caves make very energy efficient homes, with an almost stable temperature year round. The area is reputed to have the cleanest air in the country.
• Thermal Springs:  There are so many thermal springs in Tabriz Township which are used as a remedy by many people, such as:  Sofiyan, Kandovan, and Bostan Abad.