Isfahan

A Persian city on the ancient crossroads of trade, where Ibn Sina found refuge at the court of the Kakuyid emir and spent his most productive final years, finishing his encyclopedias by lamplight between administrative duties. Five centuries later the Safavids made it their capital and built its turquoise domes; the saying went that Isfahan is half the world.

Isfahan sits on the Zayandeh river at the edge of the central Iranian plateau, an oasis on the road between Mesopotamia and Central Asia. Ibn Sina spent his final years here under the protection of the local ruler, writing and teaching while following him on campaign. Centuries later the Safavids made it their capital and laid out the great square and the bridges that still cross the river, and the circle of philosophers who gathered there revived metaphysics so distinctively that historians still call it the School of Isfahan.