If you're driving by on the westbound Semnan–Garmsar Hwy, the rest area at Lasjerd makes a popular snack break with the added bonus of two historic buildings within 200m – the newly re-domed Imamzadeh Reza and Aliakbar and a 17th-century caravanserai – carefully reconstructed though less interesting than the one at Dehnamak, mainly because it's almost always closed.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
21.1 MILES
Semnan's cross-shaped covered-bazaar marks the old heart of the city. While far less extensive than the great bazaars of Kerman or Tabriz, there is plenty…
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22.35 MILES
Once the fourth stop on the ancient Rey–Khorasan caravan route, Dehnamak is most interesting for its recently restored Safavid-era caravanserai, now a…
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21.07 MILES
The extraordinarily high, if austere, west iwan of the Masjed-e Jameh dates from a 1424 rebuild, rising above a bare-brick octagonal prayer hall. But the…
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21.12 MILES
Founded under Fath Ali Shah in the 1820s, this mosque is a large courtyard affair with four iwans at the cardinal points – the higher east and west ones…
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21.06 MILES
Fronted with splendid blue tiling and filled with dazzling mirror-mosaics, this mostly contemporary imamzadeh just off the bazaar entombs Yahya bin Musa…
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21.09 MILES
Inside a historic bathhouse, fronted with charmingly naive Qajar-era picture tiles, this museum displays 3000-year-old pottery from the archaeological…
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21.17 MILES
Spiked with blue-tiled baby minarets, Darvaza-e Arg is Semnan’s dinky but iconic Qajar-era city gate, with appealing tile murals adorning the northern…
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21.34 MILES
A steep stairway near Mashahir Sq leads down into what was once a water cistern, though it's now blocked off. Behind, what appears to be a fortress tower…
Nearby Iran attractions
21.06 MILES
Fronted with splendid blue tiling and filled with dazzling mirror-mosaics, this mostly contemporary imamzadeh just off the bazaar entombs Yahya bin Musa…
21.07 MILES
The extraordinarily high, if austere, west iwan of the Masjed-e Jameh dates from a 1424 rebuild, rising above a bare-brick octagonal prayer hall. But the…
21.09 MILES
Inside a historic bathhouse, fronted with charmingly naive Qajar-era picture tiles, this museum displays 3000-year-old pottery from the archaeological…
21.1 MILES
Semnan's cross-shaped covered-bazaar marks the old heart of the city. While far less extensive than the great bazaars of Kerman or Tabriz, there is plenty…
21.12 MILES
Founded under Fath Ali Shah in the 1820s, this mosque is a large courtyard affair with four iwans at the cardinal points – the higher east and west ones…
21.17 MILES
Spiked with blue-tiled baby minarets, Darvaza-e Arg is Semnan’s dinky but iconic Qajar-era city gate, with appealing tile murals adorning the northern…
21.34 MILES
A steep stairway near Mashahir Sq leads down into what was once a water cistern, though it's now blocked off. Behind, what appears to be a fortress tower…
22.35 MILES
Once the fourth stop on the ancient Rey–Khorasan caravan route, Dehnamak is most interesting for its recently restored Safavid-era caravanserai, now a…