Masouleh                                                                                         Click Here for Map

     Lying about 1000m above sea level, in the Alborz mountains near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, this village has a number of unique architectural features. The most famous of these is encapsulated by the translated phrase seen on most tourist literature: "The yard of the above building is the roof of the below building".

     In addition, the houses are built directly into the side of the mountain, with their outward-facing walls coated with a yellow clay to make them more visible in the fog, which is the predominant weather pattern in this high, humid region. A clear sunny day such as we experienced is apparently a very rare event. (A panoramic “virtual tour” of the village can be found here, showing its more usual appearance.)