Shahrekord

Shahrekord (Persian: شهركرد‎‎, also Romanized as Shahr-e Kord and Shahr Kord) is the capital city of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran. It is the largest city in the province, and is 90 km away from Iran's third largest city, Isfahan. At the time of the 2006 census, Shahrekord had a population of about 148,464 and the Shahrekord metropolitan area had a population of 380,312.
Shahrekord is famous for its natural beauty, cold winters, waterfalls and rivers. Sharekord is the Iran’s highest capital city at 2,070 m (6,790 ft) above the sea level. This led to be known as “Roof of Iran”. Shahrekord is about 100 km (62 mi) from Iran's third largest city of Isfahan and 521 km (324 mi) from Tehran.

Its weather is dry, cold in winter and mild in summer. The town has a ski resort (Bardeh) located about 35 km (22 mi) away and several natural lagoons and small lakes for outdoor relaxation.

Name

In antiquity, before the Islamic occupation of Persia, it had been called "Dezh Gord" (دژگرد). The word Dezh (دژ) means fortress and the word Gord (گرد) means "Hero". After the Muslim conquest of Persia and the supremacy of the Arabic language, its name was changed to "Deh Kord" (دهکرد), because the arabic alphabet lacks the letters “zh” (ژ) and “g” (گ). The name of the city was changed from "Deh Kord" to "Shahr-e-Kord" in 1935. There are some other cities such as Chamgordan, Boroujerd and Dezful which were called Chamgord, Borougord and Dezhpol, respectively, before the Muslim conquest of Persia. The name of the city, in Kurdish and Persian, means the "city of Kurds".