Sarakhs

Sarakhs (Persian: سرخس, also Romanized as Serakhs) is a city in and capital of Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries and a famous school of architects. Much of the original city site is now just across the border at Saraghs in Turkmenistan. According to the most recent national census, in 2006, the city's population was 33,571 in 8,066 families. According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh the town has existed since the Afrasiab period and was named for its builder, Sarakhs, son of Godarzby Keykavus. Turkmen historians consider the city to have been founded over 2500 years ago. The Mongols plundered and destroyed Sarakhs in 1220, but...