Photos by Hossein Baharloo, ISNA

Following photos by Hossein Baharloo show the women rowing team practicing on the beautiful Zayandeh Rud river in the historic city of Isfahan in the shadows of the ancient Sio-seh-pol bridge.

Zayandeh Rud (life giver river) is the largest river on the central plateau of Iran, Isfahan Province. The Zayandeh starts in the Zagros Mountains and flows 400 kilometres (200 mi) eastward before ending in the Gavkhouni swamp, a seasonal salt lake, southeast of Esfahan city.  The Zayandeh Rud is spanned by many historical Safavid era bridges, and flows through many parks. Zayandeh Rud normally has significant flow all year long, unlike many of Iran's rivers which are seasonal. But this year the severe draught caused the river to completely dry up (see report). The water started flowing into the river recently bringing the life back to it!

... Payvand News - 11/12/09 ... --