Natanz is a mountainous town in the Isfahan province of Iran, located forty-nine miles from Kashan.

Its bracing climate and fruit orchards, especially its Natanz pears, are well-known in Iran. The 3899 meter high mountain Kuh-e Karkas (meaning mountain of vulture) looms over the town, and local residents point in its direction telling how the troops of Alexander the Great killed the Achaemenian King, Darius III, nearby. Many small shrines dot the mountain side, like the Shrine of Abdas-Samad. The elements in the present complex date from 1304 with subsequent additions and restorations.

Natanz also has a nuclear enrichment centrifuge facility to enrich uranium extracted from the Yazd province.

External links

• Stanford University entry on Natanz
• www.globalsecurity.org entry on Natanz