A journey through Iran
A cutout of a woman in Iranian dress stands in front of the Karim Khani Palace, also a former prison, May 29, 2014.
Shiraz, celebrated for more than 2,000 years as the heartland of Persian culture, is known as the home of Iranian poetry and for its progressive attitudes and tolerance.
Like all of Iran, this week Shiraz observes the 25th anniversary of the death and continued legacy of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic revolution.
Getty Images photographer John Moore traveled through central Iran in spring to take the following images.
Isfahan, Iran
A shopper leaves the Hyper Star market, near a sculpture of a shopper, at the new Isfahan City Center shopping mall, June 2, 2014.
The mall, still under construction, is the largest shopping center in Iran and will include a 5-star hotel, a financial center and an entertainment center with cinema and fair complex. The mall is being built by Prestige Land Iran and was designed by architect Madardo Cadiz of Cadiz International.
Historic Isfahan, with it's immense mosques, picturesque bridges and ancient historic bazaar, is a virtual living museum of Iranian traditional culture.
It's also the Iran's top tourist destination for both Iranian and domestic visitors.
Tehran, Iran
Women hold up their hands pledging to offer their lives, if needed, for the Islamic Revolution outside the shrine of the Ayatollah Khomeini on the 25th anniversary of his death on June 4, 2014 on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran.
Thousands of people gathered to hear speeches to mark the event. Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, is still revered by many Iranians, and his portrait hangs throughout the country.
Abyaneh, Iran
A donkey stands amongst traditional mud brick homes in the ancient mountain village of Abyaneh, Iran, June 3, 2014.
Shahinshahr, Iran
A woman fills her gas tank at a service station. Gas prices, which are regulated by the Iranian government, have risen sharply in the last month, June 3, 2014.
Abarqu, Iran
A pickup truck full of young men rides through town near the town of Abarqu, in central Iran, May 30, 2014.
Yazd, Iran
Hotel doorman Aboul Fazl Kalantari, and driver Mohammad Ali Khabiri await guests in the lobby of the Moshir-al-Mamalek Garden Hotel, June 1, 2014.
Kalantari is one of two employees with dwarfism hired as doormen at the hotel. Such "traditional" hotels are common in the desert town of Yazd, one of Iran's main tourist destinations.
Nasrabad, Iran
A car carries a wheel barrow down the highway,May 30, 2014.
Shiraz, Iran
A goundskeeper waters a topiary peacock at Quran Square, May 29, 2014.
Isfahan, Iran
A couple share a moment together behind a park hedgerow, June 2, 2014.
Narin, Iran
Textile weaver Ali Ghayoumi, 83, makes camel hair cloth on his loom, June 1, 2014.
Ghayoumi, who has worked in the same underground workshop since the age of 10, is one of the last loom weavers in Narin, his craft increasingly replaced by factory production in larger cities.
Narin, known for its mud brick architecture and handicrafts, has been a prominent stop on trade routes since the Sassanid era.
Persepolis, Iran
Tourists walk through the ancient Persepolis archeological site, May 30, 2014.
The ruins mark the site of the 6th century BC Persian Achaemenid Empire, the largest empire the world had known up to that time, eventually ended by Alexander the Great.
Qom, Iran
A pair of Arab clerics speak in a hotel coffee shop before prayers at an Islamic shrine, June 3, 2014.
Qom, Iran
A woman dressed in traditional Iranian hijab withdraws money from an ATM machine, June 3, 2014.
Kashan, Iran
A wax figure stands behind glass in a historic display in the bathhouse of the Fin Garden, June 3, 2014.
Qom, Iran
An Islamic Mullah and his daughter walk past a portrait of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, June 3, 2014.
Yazd, Iran
A boy kicks up water in a public fountain near the Amir Chakhmaq Hosseinieh facade, June 1, 2014.
Isfahan, Iran
Plastic soccer balls hang from the ceiling in the Hyper Star market located in the new Isfahan City Center shopping mall, June 2, 2014.
Isfahan, Iran
A carpet vendor awaits customers at his shop in the Bazar-e Bozorg, June 2, 2014.
International sanctions have severely affected Iran's carpet industry.
Shiraz, Iran
A parakeet awaits customers in order to choose a "fortune" outside of the beloved Iranian poet Hafez's tomb, May 29, 2014.
Customers pay a handler for the bird to choose a piece of paper from a box with a verse of Hafez's poetry meant to give advice for future endeavors.
Meymeh, Iran
Farmer Abbas Hamamian works his wheat field, June 3, 2014.
He said he has owned the 4-hectare farm for 15 years, and this year's rains have been good for his crop.
Nasrabad, Iran
Goats seek out grazing material at sunset, May 30, 2014.
Naqsh-e-rostam, Iran
Tombs of Achaemenid kings stand hewn into a cliff, May 30, 2014.
The ruins mark the burial sites of three kings from the 6th century BC Persian Achaemenid Empire, the largest empire the world had known up to that time, which was eventually ended by Alexander the Great.
Shiraz, Iran
A woman smokes a hookah while visiting a poetry calligraphy workshop, May 29, 2014.
Shiraz, Iran
Pilgrims pay tribute at the tomb of beloved Iranian poet Hafez.
Meymeh, Iran
Buses carrying pilgrims for ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini drive from the countryside towards Tehran, June 3, 2014.