Marco Polo passed through Yazd in the thirteenth century and called it a good and noble city, which is high praise from a man who had seen a great deal. It is the largest city in the world built mostly of adobe, a pale, soft, sun-baked mud brick, and it lies in the middle of Iran, shut in by two deserts and the Shirkuh range. That isolation is what saved it. When invaders swept across the plateau, Yazd's remoteness, and the money to pay them off, helped it survive, and the Zoroastrians, followers of Iran's ancient pre-Islamic religion, found a refuge here that they still hold.
The city's genius is its response to heat and dryness. The qanats bring water from the hills, the houses are built around courtyards with deep cellars called sardabs, and the streets are narrow so that the buildings shade each other. Wind towers catch the breeze, and some of the old ice houses, great conical domes outside the walls, stored winter ice for use in summer. The brickwork, with its patterns of shadows, looks almost carved, and the soft light at the end of the day turns the walls the colour of honey.
Beyond the old town, Yazd has some remarkable places, including the Amir Chakhmaq complex, a three-storey facade of arched niches that lights up at night, and the Zoroastrian fire temple with its flame behind glass. About twenty kilometres from the city stands Chak Chak, a mountain shrine where water drips from a rock face, which is a pilgrimage place for Zoroastrians each June. Roads to the surrounding villages cross desert plains and pass dunes, and the road to Meybod and Kharanaq makes a good loop.
In the city itself, traffic is calmer than in other Iranian cities, and a motorbike is easy to park. Fuel is plentiful, with several stations on the ring road, and hotels in old houses offer courtyards for secure parking. The cuisine includes a lamb stew with dried fruit, saffron rice with barberries, and the sweets of Yazd, such as pashmak, a spun-sugar floss, and qottab, a deep-fried almond pastry. Drink tea with sugar cubes, the local way, held in the teeth.