Sarakhyeh, Venice of Iran

On the south part of Iran there is a land named Sarakhyeh, that has a lot of stories to tell, from the first Aryans who arrived at this area to the sad moments of war. The story of Iran started at this area when the Aryan tribes placed their footstep in ancient Elam, today’s Khuzestan, around 8000 BC and gave birth to Persia. Similar to ups and downs that Khuzestan has seen throughout the history its nature is diverse too. It has super dry cracked lands along with the wetlands that must be crossed with boats and paddles only.

The international lagoon of Shadgan in Khuzestan province is a treasure in terms of unique eco-system that it has created for Iranians and non-Iranians who travel with a tour to Iran. Shadgan is the home to 174 unique different birds and swamp eagles. It is believed that this wetland is a remaining of the huge set of Mesopotamian Marshes wetland area. Shadgan wetland gains its life mainly from the Jarhai River. The next river bringing the water to Shadgan’s veins is Bahreh River that originates from the Karoon River.

A big number of different ethnicities like the native Persians, Iranian Arab tribes, the Bakhtiari, the Luri, the Qashqai and Afshari tribes, Armenians, inhabitants of Dezful, Shushtar and the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf live in Khuzestan which will result in speaking different languages in this area. The residents of the Shadgan town speak in Arabic.

In Khuzestan province there is a village, named Sarakhyeh that is totally different from the rest of the country. Sarakhyeh is known as the Venice of Iran. The streets and alleys are located on the marshy lagoon of Shadgan and people move around this village with paddled boats. Sarakhyeh is so beautiful that those who take a tour to Iran and visit this village would love to go back for the second time too.

This village has stayed untouched throughout the years and the traditional face of it has been reserved. Even though the Shadgan lagoon is biologically important in terms of its exceptional ecosystem, but it is still a mystery for people and scientists which makes it a good potential case for organizing research-study tour to Iran.

Even though Sarakhyeh is not a big modern city but the young generation enjoys living in this lagoon and they don’t choose to emigrate.