Hormuz Island; Jewel of Persian Gulf
Hormuz Island is placed in Hormozgan province and near the strait of Hurmuz which is home to salt dome.
Existence of different colorful stones has made this place as a geology museum. The only residence of this island is a small village that is placed among palm trees. This village has dusty alleys and a mosque with yellow stones. 42 percent of this island is vacant.
History of Hormuz Island
This island was named as Laron and Hormuz which was the title of industrial city near Minab river. After the attack of Mongols, 15th prince of Hormuz city left this place. He and his people left Hurmuz city to Kish island and then left to Laron city. New Hurmuz, Laron, became a good place for trading and was a good tourist attraction from different parts of the world like Africa and India until the time that Portuguese seized this city. Finally, King Abbas Safavid exiled Portuguese from this place and transferred center of trading to Bandar Abbas.
Attractions of Hormuz Island
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Portuguese Castle
This castle is maybe the biggest colonialism castle in Iran. Although people have not paid attention to this castle and some parts of that are destroyed during the time, there are some Portuguese souvenirs like walls of castle and rusty cannons.
There is a glorious underground church in the yard of this place. Roof of this church is covered by beautiful coral stones and it shows the art of Portuguese people. This church is also built with beautiful columns that are like a trunk of palm tree.
Having water sept in the roof after the first rainfall, Portuguese used here as a cistern.
There are also prisons and dungeons decorated with fishing stuff.
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Hormuz Village
The best thing you can do in this village is walking in the alleys. It has a sandwich restaurant. There are also different supermarkets in this island.
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Colorful Soil
On the way of Qeshm to Hormuz island, there is a hill with red color and native people use its soil as a food.
This hill is placed at the northern part of island and its soil is also used for creating ceramics and tiles.
For traveling to this place it is better to go there before sunrise, because the sun radiates extremely radiate.
How to get there?
The only way to get to Hormuz island is just from a pier of Bandar Abbas. You need at least 30 minutes for going from pier to the island.
Address: Iran, Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, 8 Kilometers of the Iranian Coast, the Island in the part of Hormozgan Province
