A long 530 kilometers from Tehran, the provincial capital of Kermanshah Province once served as a royal stopover for dignitaries on route to Baghdad. The town was also a major trading point in the midst of the Middle Eastern deserts, finding its glory with the Neo-Persian Empire of the 3^rd century. Today, little of that former resplendence remains in the central district, which is largely a lived-in grid of crisscrossing lanes blocked by traffic. However, treasures from the past remain to be wondered at, at museums and architectural delights aplenty, such as the prominent gilded and glorious Takiyeh Moaven al-molk of the later Qajar era. Outside of town, Kermanshah tour guides make a beeline straight for UNESCO-tagged Bistoun, a legendary inscription that reveals many a secret of the ancient Babylonian kings. There are also some striking remnants of the old Silk Road to be found in Tagh-e-bostan, where the rock reliefs of Persian emperors and Sassanid warriors can be found carved straight into the dusty faces of the Zagros hills, on the north-eastern fringes of the city.