Wender·Vista
Khorramabad
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIran
in the Zagros, under the Falak-ol-Aflak castle

Khorramabad

— a citadel that watches the valley sleep.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A Lori city in the folds of the Zagros, with a Sassanid fortress on a basalt outcrop above the river. The castle has watched twelve hundred years of caravans come up from Khuzestan and turn east. Around the foot of the hill, the old bazaar still keeps its arches. Lorestan keeps to itself, and Khorramabad keeps the gate.

from the studio
Khorramabad
— bring it home

Khorramabad, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Khorramabad

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Khorramabad is the capital of Lorestan Province in western Iran, set in a narrow valley of the central Zagros mountains at roughly 1,170 metres elevation. The city traces continuous habitation to the Sassanid era and grew along the old caravan road linking Khuzestan to Hamadan. Around 370,000 people live here today, most of Lori heritage, speaking a distinct Western Iranian language. The Khorramabad River runs through the centre, and the basalt outcrop of the Falak-ol-Aflak rises above the city core.

— the stone

The Falak-ol-Aflak castle sits on a stone hill in the centre of the city. Its lower courses are Sassanid, raised between the third and seventh centuries, with twelve towers ringing a courtyard that once held a garrison and a Zoroastrian fire. Later Safavid and Qajar rulers added the upper chambers. The fortress now houses the Lorestan archaeological and anthropological museum, which holds Bronze Age bronzes from the surrounding valleys, some dating to the third millennium BCE.

— the visit

The castle museum opens daily, with shorter hours in the winter months when snow closes the higher Zagros passes. Khorramabad is reached by road from Tehran, about 490 kilometres south-west, or by a short flight to Khorramabad Airport. The Bishe waterfall, on the Trans-Iranian Railway about 70 kilometres south, makes a common day-trip pairing, as does the Gerdab-e Sangi, a Sassanid-era stone basin near the castle that still holds spring water.

— where
Iran · Khorramabad, Lorestan
— elevation
1,170 m · 3,839 ft
— position
33.4870° N · 48.3550° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Falak-ol-Aflak Castle
Sassanid fortress
1 km N
Gerdab-e Sangi
Sassanid stone basin
70 km S
Bishe Waterfall
waterfall
N
Khorramabad
Falak-ol-Aflak Castle
Gerdab-e Sangi
Bishe Waterfall
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Khorramabad — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The Falak-ol-Aflak castle, a Sassanid-era basalt fortress rising over the city centre, and Lori cultural heritage. Khorramabad is the capital of Lorestan Province in western Iran's central Zagros mountains.

The lower fortress dates to the Sassanid era, between the third and seventh centuries CE. Later Safavid and Qajar rulers extended the upper chambers, and the museum opened inside it in 1972.

The Lurs are a Western Iranian people indigenous to the Zagros, speaking Luri. They form most of Khorramabad's population, with a distinct musical and pastoral tradition rooted in the surrounding mountains.

A circular stone basin near the castle, cut and lined with dressed blocks in the Sassanid period. It still holds water from a natural spring and sits in a small park used by city residents.

Spring, between April and early June, when the Zagros valleys turn green and wildflowers bloom around the castle. Summers are hot and dry; winters can close the mountain passes with snow.

By road from Tehran, about 490 kilometres south-west, or by short domestic flight to Khorramabad Airport. The Trans-Iranian Railway also stops here, running south to Khuzestan through the Bishe waterfall.

— about the piece in your home

Many of our customers buy WenderVista pieces for that reason. A Small or Medium of Khorramabad with the castle in view carries the Zagros home, and a short handwritten note travels with each tile.

The piece sits well in warm Maximalist and jewel-tone rooms, and in interiors that lean Persian-modern or Mediterranean. Deep stone reds and dusk blues read against terracotta, plaster, and walnut.

Yes. Saturated reds, golds, and lapis blues sit at the centre of the current jewel-tone Maximalist wave. The Khorramabad palette layers cleanly with Persian textiles, brass, and warm wood.

A single Large suits most sofas and consoles. For a longer wall, a four-tile Mural carries the castle and the valley together. A nine-tile Mural is for a full feature wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle the humidity of a bathroom or the splash of a kitchen. The Glossy is best reserved for framed wall pieces.

A soft microfibre cloth with water. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin protective finish, so it will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's own visual language by Reid Wender, the curator. We do not license images in or out, and each place is rendered once for the atlas.

— if this one stayed with you

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