Mehrshahr

Mehrshahr (in Persian: مهرشهر) is an area located south-west of Karaj city, in Alborz province, Iran. The word Mehrshahr is composed of Mehr meaning sun or love, and Shahr meaning city; suggesting Mehrshahr to mean the city of sun or love. However, this is not necessarily connected to the actual geographical facts of the area.

Mehrshahr in the spring

Mehrshahr in the winter

History

In 1960s the area was mostly made up of large apple orchards owned by the members of the Pahlavi dynasty. They built the Pearl Palace or kakh-e Morvarid in Persian, and a small set of scattered large villas. The area was not open to the public.

After a decade the number of these houses increased and the area was reshaped into a town. The area was designed by The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Since 1979, when Pahlavi family left Iran after the Islamic Revolution, the area has been opened for public residency and became more populated. The old areas are now recognized as Phases One, Two and Three, which are around the Shahrdari boulevard. The Pearl Palace is placed in phase 3. Many other new towns like Kianmehr, as well as Phase Four and Phase Five have also been built around this area.

Today

Today Mehrshahr is also the name of a suburb of Karaj, including Mehrshahr town itself and other close localities. Some of these localities and important areas include:

• Golestan
• Hussein Abad (Vali-asr town)
• Kianmehr
• Pearl Palace
• Shams Apple Garden
• Phases one, two and three of Mehrshahr (in Shahrdari boulevard)
• Phase four of Mehrshahr (Near Imam-zadeh-Tahir thomb)

Other towns, villages and localities in Mehrshahr suburb:

• Agh Tapeh
• Ahad Abad
• Akbar Abad (Shahid Bagheri or Naft St.)
• Akhtar Abad
• Asad Abad
• Eram Blvd.
• Kuye Afshar
• Kuye Mehr (Farhang)
• Malek Abad
• Rajab Abad
• Shaban Abad
• Sohrabieh
• Zanbagh town