Taleghan

Known as Talekan in the past, Taleghan is one of the countryside cities in Alborz Province located on the southern hillside of Alborz Mountains. This city contains a widely diverse wild life and flora and it is famous for having a beautiful lake, waterfall and nature.

The distance between Taleghan and Tehran is 166 km and there is about 115km distance from it to Karaj. Karaj is located in the south of Taleghan and it shares land borders with Ghazvin to the west. It also has a shared border with Alamut and Mazandaran Province to the north, and with Savojbolagh to the south. The nature of Taleghan has an extremely special place in the job of people so that most of them are occupied with agriculture and husbandry.

The population of Taleghan is considerably increased during summers and most of people come here as a countryside destination. In spite of the coldness of weather, nature-trekkers and mountain climbers travel to this city even in winter. The lake of Taleghan Dam and Shahroud River along with the possibility of fishing have attracted so many tourists to this place.

Taleghan is famous for many villages and it totally contains more than 80 villages. Orizan or Abrizan, Mir, Minavand, Fashandak, Dizan and Karkaboud are the most spectacular and green villages of the region. Some famous individuals like Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ayat Allah Taleghani and Omidvar Brothers (the first Iranian globe trotter) were born in Taleghan.

Placed within a vast valley, Taleghan is extremely attractive for its waterfalls: Sholebon, Karkaboud, Sohan, Kherschar, Askan, Varkesh waterfalls and Milin Seasonal Waterfall.

Many mountain climbers come here to climb the hillsides. The main way to the Shah Alborz Peak and the other path to Alam-Kuh pass through Taleghan. In addition, the region’s rock mountains are extremely attractive for mountain climbing and rock climbing. Village trekking in the rural alleyways is another amusement for those tourists who intend to walk.

 The local foods of Taleghan are widely diverse. Marjoo Khoresh, which is a kind of lentil stew, Yavan Ash (pottage), Pelaster Tareh cooked with spinach and walnut, Valk Polo, Torshi Ash, Panir Bavich and pinto beans feed are among the main local foods of Taleghan.  

Travelers to Taleghan usually buy honey, local bread, dairy products especially local cheese, fruits as mountain barberry, pear, cherry, apple, rhubarb, walnut, thyme and mountain mushroom as souvenirs.  

Holding Sadeh ceremony has been one of the traditional customs in Taleghan winters. People open fortuitously one page of Divan-e Hafez in Yalda nights in a house named Tabir Khane (the place of being realized the desires of people) when young girls make their intentions in their hearts. Shal Andazi is one of the other customs of Taleghan in Yalda. In addition, Rodha Khani (recitation) is of the traditional rituals here which is still alive in some villages.