LORESTAN

Lorestan Province: Lorestan Province has an area covering 31,384 square kilometers and is located in the west of Iran. It is located at an altitude of between 1,100 to 1,400 meters from the sea level. It is bounded to the north by the cities of Khomeyn and Arak in Central province and by Malayer and Nahavand in Hamadan province, to the south by Khuzestan province, to the east by the cities of Faridan and Golpayegan in Isfahan province and to the west by Kermanshah and Ilam provinces. The southern part of Lorestan goes further back in history than other parts of the province. In another words, the further one gets from Khorramabad on the west, center and south, the fewer its historical sites. So far most of the sites have been located around Khorramabad and its outlying districts, including Tarhan, Noorabad and Alashtar. The area has been of commercial importance during the Islamic era and land routes traversed to the northern and southern part of it. Many geographers believe that perhaps present-day Khorramabad had been located in the vicinity of ancient Shapurkhast. Hamdollah Mostowfi writes that Khorramabad had been a good city with lots of dates. During time of Ibn Huqal Shapurkhast had had dates. The name of the city has repeatedly been mentioned in records left from the Salukis' era. Falakol-Aflak castle, situated in central part of Khorramabad, dates back to Sassanid era.

Historical Background: Lorestan has since long been a residential region and many historical sites identified in the city testify that the city had been the military key of Khuzestan. Lorestan had been among lands in ancient Ilam and many potteries, coins and winged admiralty brass statues, unearthed in the city in the course of archaeological excavations, testify the notion.