It is famous for its traditional confectioneries (like Baghlava), carpet patterns, poets, political newspaper and Pahlavi influence on its accent.

Located in 150 km (93 mi) northwest of Tehran, in the Qazvin Province, it is at an altitude of about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) above sea level.

Due to its position at the south of the rugged Alborz range called KTS Atabakiyam, its climate is cold but dry.

Qazvin is located at a crossroad connecting Tehran, Tabriz, and the Caspian Sea region, which has historically been a major factor in its commercial importance.

[7] They were offered the same terms as Abhar had earlier, but the people of Qazvin did not want to pay jizya and supposedly accepted Islam instead.

[7] Later, when Sa'id ibn al-'As was appointed governor of Persia under the Umayyads, he built a new town called Hājjāj at Qazvin.

[7] Harun al-Rashid visited Qazvin while on his way to Khorasan and saw firsthand the locals' struggles as a result of the Daylamite raids.

[7] For a couple of years around 865/6, the Alids under Hasan ibn al-Bakir took control of Qazvin, and Fakhr al-Dawla continued to serve as governor under them.

[7] In 913/4 (301 AH) Qazvin was put under Ali ibn al-Muqtadir along with Ray, Dinavar, Zanjan, Abhar, and Tarom.

[7] There was rioting in the city in 968/9 (358 AH) and the Buyid vizier Abu'-Fath Ali ibn Muhammad was sent to restore order.

[12] In 1038/9 (430 AH), along with an alliance of the Ghuzz, the Daylamite ruler Fanna Khusraw came to Qazvin after already sacking Ray the year before.

[12] In 1046 Qazvin was visited by Nasir-i Khusraw, who left the following account:[7] It had many gardens, without walls or thorn-hedges or any obstacle to prevent entry into them.

Of all the crafts in the town, the shoe-makers (kafshgar) were the most numerous.Under the Seljuks, Qazvin appears to have formed part of the central territory around the capital in Isfahan that was more or less directly ruled by the sultans, who were able to levy taxes and appoint governors here.

[7] The oldest known structure in Qazvin that still exists is the dome chamber of the city's Jameh mosque, which according to its inscription was built from 1106 to 1114 (500-508 AH).

[7] When Jalal al-Din Hasan III succeeded as Isma'ili imam in 1210 (607 AH) he claimed to have converted to Sunni Islam and took the name "Naw-Musalmān" meaning "New Muslim".

[7] Qazvin changed hands several times during their wars with the Khwarazmshahs, and in 1220 (617 AH) the Mongols massacred the city's inhabitants.

[7] From its beginnings under Ismail I, the Safavid state had key frontiers in Azerbaijan, with the Ottoman Empire, and in Khorasan with the Uzbek tribes led by the Shaybanids.

[7] Widespread public conversion to Twelver Shi'ism probably took place during the early Safavid period, but many people probably secretly remained Sunnis for some time.

[7] Qazvin appears to have emerged relatively unscathed from this drama – Don Juan of Persia, who visited the city soon after, described it as large and prosperous.

[7] A member of Anthony Shirley's entourage, which arrived in Qazvin in December 1598, was less enthusiastic and wrote that it was an unremarkable city except for a few mosques and the palace gate; he estimated its population as a somewhat smaller than London's.

[7] In 1607, the Catholic priest Paul Simon wrote that Qazvin, though no longer the capital, was still a large city rivalling Isfahan in size.

[7] Pietro della Valle, who visited Qazvin in 1618, was not very impressed with the city and wrote that it had "nothing to satisfy the expectations of a royal residence".

[7] Thomas Herbert, writing in 1627, said Qazvin was "equal for grandeur to any other city in the Persian Empire", except for Isfahan, and estimated its population at 200,000.

[7] He wrote that there were "a great many merchants in Qazvin, but not many rich ones" and commented on its shoe-makers, who he said made "the best shoes in the whole country" out of shagreen and coming in green, white, and other colors.

[15] Two parts of this now survive: the Chehel Sotun pavilion, which now hosts the Qazvin museum, and the monumental Ali Qapu portal which now serves as the city's police headquarters.

[7] In 1722, Qazvin surrendered to an Afghan force of 6,000 soldiers under Aman Allah Khan, but in January 1723 there was a popular uprising (or lūṭibāzār) against them in all quarters of the city, led by the kalantars.

[7] Mirza Husayn Farahani, who visited Qazvin in 1884, wrote that it was divided into 17 districts and had 600 shops, 8 caravanserais, 40 mosques, 9 madrasas, and 12 yakhchals.

[18] The earthquake occurred shortly before Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Moshe Dayan, was scheduled to visit Iran in mid-September for meetings with the Shah and with his Iranian counterpart, in order to discuss Israel's possible role in the White Revolution, a plan for land reform and the modernization of rural Iran.

This street entirely is carpeted with carved gray stone and is surrounded by craftsmen gift shops (used to be bars or bygone liquorshops, called May'kadeh) and hosts historical places such as Qazvin's Ali Qapu gate, entrance of Jame' Atiq mosque and historical schools.

[34] Qazvin today is a center of textile trade, including cotton, silk and velvet, in addition to leather.