'''History''' The city was founded around 823 AD, and its name derives from mashhad-e-reza, "place of martyrdom".

Baha'i Faith has a history of victory and extreme persecutions in this city. The latest was the executions of two Baha'is in 1998

As a city of great religious significance, it is also a place of pilgrimage. Thus, even as those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca receive the title of Haji, those who make the pilgrimage to Mashhad ? and especially to the Imam Reza shrine ? are known as Mashtee, a term employed also of its inhabitants.

Besides its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as well.

Though primarily a Muslim city, Mashhad has harbored a number of religious minorities over the centuries.

In 1912, the sanctuary of the Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian forces, causing widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world.Geography and climate The city is located at 36.20o latitude and 59.35 o east longitude, in the valley of the Kashaf River near Turkmenistan, between the two mountain ranges of Binalood and Hezar-masjed The city benefits from the proximity of the mountains, having very cold winters, pleasant springs, usually mild summers, and beautiful autumns.

'''Demographics''' Mashhad has a population of near to 3 million , consisting of people of Iranian descent, among others , and over 20 millions of pilgrams every year.

'''Culture''' Long a center of secular as well as of religious learning, Mashhad has been a center for the arts and for the sciences.

Mashhad is also home to one of the oldest libraries of the Middle-East called the Central Library of Astan-e Quds Razavi with a history of over six centuries.

In 1569 (977 H), `Imad al-Din Mas`ud Shirazi, a physician at the Mashhad hospital, wrote the earliest Islamic treatise on syphilis, one influenced by European medical thought.

Kashmar rug is a type of Persian rug indigenous to this region.

Colleges and universities

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) Mashad University of Medical Sciences Islamic Azad University of Mashad Comprehensive University of Applied and Practical Sciences, Khorasan Imam Reza University Sadjad Institute of Higher Education Sister cities

Medina, Saudi Arabia Najaf, Iraq Kerbela, Iraq Kazimain, Iraq Samarra, Iraq Santiago de Compostela, Spain Lahore, Pakistan - Verona, Italy - Seattle, USA - Pula, Croatia - Busan, South Korea