Maragheh (redirected from Maraqeh)

Maragheh (märägä`), city (1991 pop. 117,388), East Azerbaijan prov., NW Iran, on the southern slopes of Mt. Sahand. It is the trade and transportation center of a fertile fruit-growing region; dried fruits are shipped from there. After the Arab conquest in the 7th cent. Maragheh developed rapidly as a provincial capital. In 1029 it was seized by the Oghuz Turks, but they were driven out by a Kurdish chief who established a local dynasty. The city was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, but Hulagu Khan held court there until the establishment of a fixed capital at Tabriz. The city was temporarily occupied by Russia in 1828. Maragheh's celebrated observatory (13th cent.) is now in ruins. The city is also known as Maragha.

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Maragheh 

(Maragah), a city in northwestern Iran in the province of Azarbaijan-e Khavari (East Azerbaijan). Population, 56,000 (1971); railroad station.

Maragheh is the center of a vinicultural and fruit-growing region. Dried fruits are produced (primarily raisins for export). There is also a wood products industry. Coal and marble are mined nearby.

Maragheh is an ancient city; the exact date of its founding has not been established. It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221. The city was the residence of the first rulers of the Hulagu dynasty. In the second half of the 13th century the Maragheh Observatory was built under the supervision of Nasr al-Din al-Tusi. Noteworthy monuments in Maragheh include a number of tomb towers: one constructed in 1168, Gonbad-e Sorkh (1148), Gonbad-e Kabud (or Gok-Giinbez, 1197), and Gonbad-e Sharaffiya (1328). There are also remnants of the observatory (1260). Maragheh has for a long time been famous for its production of morocco leather and rugs.

REFERENCE

Godard, A. “Les Monuments de Maragha.” Publications de la Societe des etudes iraniennes et de l’art person, Paris, 1934, no. 9.