Rueen village

Rueen village is located near a town called Esfarayen in the north-eastern Iranian province of North Khorasan and it has been registered in Iran's list of national heritage, thanks to its invaluable historical and architectural texture.

The step-like village of Rueen is one of the best known tourist attractions of Esfarayen town. With its location in one of the valleys of the southern skirts of Aladagh Mount and its numerous springs, Rueen captures the attention of every new-comer who travels to the region. The village is 28 km north of Esfarayen, 52 km south-east of Bojnurd (that is the center of North Khorasan province) and has an altitude of 1670 meters above sea level. According to the census carried out in the Iranian year 1385, the village had a population of 3860 people. They speak in Dari or the Tati language of ancient Iran and are Shiite Muslims. Rueen is more than 500 years old. This is fully evident by the old texture of the village, an ancient hill in its vicinity, and the mausoleum of Imamzadeh Ishaq. There are many words on the village and its people in the travelogues of the old times. From among these travelogues mention can be made of the one by Vladimir Alekseyvich Ivanov, well-known Russian orientalist. Regarding its rich culture, it can be noticed that the village has been the cradle of a number of famous scholars.

This village has been named as Rueen Dej in some historical texts. Therefore, as the word dej meaning fortress or castle indicates, it seems that besides working in the fields of economy and agriculture, quite for a while, the inhabitants of the village had engaged in some military activities. According to the Qajar period historical documents such as the famous historical evidence Fetneh-Salar, Rueen village had been home to some anti-government rebels.

Rueen has a dense residential context and, as mentioned before, is located in a valley. Narrow meandering pathways, in addition to earthen houses with flat roofs and clay-covered walls are some characteristics of this village's architecture. Most houses are built in two floors, the first one being the warehouse, barn, and stable, and the second one the residential space for the whole household. Due to the fact that Rueen village is located on the mountain slopes, the buildings have been constructed in a way to give the village a step-like form. This form provides magnificent scenery during different seasons of the year. Old buildings have been made of clay, stone, adobe, brick, and wood, while in the construction of modern houses cement, chalk, iron and the like are used.

 To name some of them we can mention meadow and medicinal plants such as chicory, or endive, milk-vetch, wild thyme, caraway or cumin, plantain and yarrow. Various fields and fruitful gardens multiply the beauty of the valley and the mountain especially in the first half of the year. In addition to all these, the flow of the permanent Rueen river in the valley with tall and old plane trees on its banks have provided the tourists with exclusive magnificent sceneries and have also added to the charm of the whole region.

The mountains in the vicinity of the village, and also green valleys adjacent to them, which are covered by colorful flowers during spring and summer, besides the plain of red tulips and yellow flowers are among the places that very much attract the lovers of nature. Therefore, thousands of tourists and travellers from neighboring cities come to the village of Rueen in order to spend some days in tranquility and serenity of nature free from the imposed and indispensable machine life in the city.

Climatically speaking, Rueen village has moderate mountainous weather with very cold and snowy winters, and moderate fine summers. This, in addition to the previously mentioned reasons, attracts many people from cities like Esfarayen and Bojnurd. The inhabitants of this village divide its weather into two parts of Nasr and Peyro. Nasr section which is actually related to the southern bank of the river, is less sunny and is covered by many trees and gardens, hence it has a finer and colder weather; whereas Peyro section in which the residential part of the village is located is warmer and sunnier.

 Most farms are located on the slope of the mountain skirt; as a result, farmers have to terrace the fields so that they can be cultivated easily. In the process of terracing, farmers use pieces of stone to stile the field and prepare some flat parts suitable for farming. Since the village is located in a rather deep valley, agricultural fields stay safe against local winds and their likely damages caused in plains.

People’s source of making a living is mainly from the fields of agriculture, gardening, animal husbandry, and handicrafts. The main products of Rueen village are chickpea, lentil, wheat, and barley. The existence of numerous orchards yielding different fruits such as apple, pear, cherry, walnut, almond, grapes, peach, and apricot has turned the region to a big garden of various fruits, so that different fruits can be planted and picked from these orchards in different seasons of the year. Also prevalent in Rueen village is animal husbandry, and producing related products like Doogh or sour milk, yogurt, whey, milk, butter, red meat, and honey. The residents of the village, especially women, work in the field of handicrafts besides farming activities.

As the final point it is noteworthy that Rueen village is considered as one of tourist targets in the Iranian province of North Khorasan, thanks to its tourist attraction potentials. So, some plans are designed to provide convenience and accommodation facilities for the travellers who visit this beautiful village. Rueen village is accessible via an asphalted road from Esfarayen town.

Source: irib.ir