Landscape of Day Sky

In the old days, pigeon keeping was a popular tradition in Iran as it has been mentioned in the Persian history books of the tenth century. In additiona the historical records reveal the ban of pigeon keeping and destruction of pigeon houses by Moqtada Abbasi (11th century). The rich tradition of pigeon keeping and its complicated rules proves its long historical roots. The tradition of pigeon keeping has been considred related to the image of love making. It is not clear why the principles and rules of the pigeon keepers enjoy such complicated etiquettes. Considering the developed nature of this tradition and its spread rules in different parts of Iran it can be concluded that this tradition is rooted in our ancestors’ beliefs that has later turned to the form of such a game. Keeping peagons at the town houses was differed of keeping them in the pigeon houses at the country side for agriculture purposes. The popularity of pigeon keeping in Iranian cities that led to a horde of flying pigeons revolving around the sky from morning to evening created a of a particular, memorable and unique sky landscape. This sky landscape could be seen in cities of various parts of Iran from mountainous regions in the west to the hot and dry central part of Iran, from the humid northern or the southern parts of Iran could be seen similarly. This common sky landscape charctristic of Iranian cities that was not dervied of the environmental but rather the cultural conditions, beside adding decorating and aesthetic values made a unique identity and meaning for the Iranian cities. The landscape sky with the special color and light of city which is dependent on its geographical situation and height is a significant feature that has been lost in modern cities due to simple reasons like the danger of pigeons for flying airplanes.