Coffee House, A Historical Attraction in the Landscape of Urban Tourism in Iran

Urban tourism is a type of tourism industry that has widely become successful. This type of tourism has not received much attention not only for the development of the economy but also as a carrier of the history and culture of different cities. The landscape approach to urban elements with attention to different dimensions, temporal-spatial, civilizational-historical and objective-mental dimensions, simultaneously in the city, can redefine various attractions in urban tourism. Regardless of the modernity of landscape knowledge, the landscape approach is one of the strategies that are used currently in several issues related to the city, since this approach has special and unique features due to the nature of the landscape. On the other hand, it creates a different perspective of the city and its elements. Public spaces are part of urban spaces that have received less attention in Iranian cities. Spaces such as baths, bazaars, mosques, zourkhanehs, coffee houses, etc. are among these spaces. The coffee house is an institution with a social function that has been established in Iran since the Safavid era and over time has played several roles in society. It has become one of the distinctive elements in the Iranian city over the last few hundred years. The coffee houses were established based on the needs of the people. In addition to a place to eat and drink and a place to spend time, it has become a place that had effective functions in other areas such as culture, literature, and art in the Iranian city. A descriptive analytics method and documentary studies were used to categorize the different functions of the coffee houses using the landscape approach. In light of the redefined connotation and identity of the coffee house, it seems this place can be considered as a tourist landscape with an irreplaceable attraction in Iranian urban tourism.