Paveh (Pawe): Kurdish Town of the Hawraman Highlands
- Rezan Babakir
- Jun 5
- 4 min read
Introduction
Paveh (Kurdish: Pawe) is a Kurdish town in the mountains of western Iran, the main centre of the Iranian side of Hawraman — one of the most distinctive cultural landscapes in all of Kurdistan. Its houses climb a steep mountainside in stacked terraces, where the roof of one home forms the courtyard of the next, looking out over deep valleys near the Iraqi border.
Hawraman is famous for its terraced villages, its ancient customs, and its own Kurdish tongue, and in 2021 the region was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This profile looks at Paveh and the remarkable highland world it belongs to.
Key Takeaways
• Paveh (Kurdish: Pawe) is a Kurdish town in Kermanshah province, western Iran (Rojhelat).
• It is the main town of the Iranian side of Hawraman (Uramanat), a distinctive Kurdish mountain region.
• Paveh is famous for its stepped, terraced architecture built into a steep mountainside.
• Hawraman has its own Kurdish language, Hawrami (Gorani), and ancient traditions such as the Pir Shalyar ceremony.
• The Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.
Quick Facts
Name (Kurdish): Pawe
Country / Region: Iran (Rojhelat / Eastern Kurdistan)
Province: Kermanshah
Cultural Region: Hawraman (Uramanat)
Language: Hawrami (Gorani) Kurdish
Known For: Terraced mountainside architecture
Heritage: UNESCO World Heritage (Hawraman, 2021)
People: Kurdish (mainly Sunni)
Contents
Where Is Paveh?
Paveh lies in the far west of Iran, in the north-western corner of Kermanshah province, high in the Hawraman mountains close to the Iraqi border. It sits among some of the most beautiful highland scenery in Kurdistan, a short distance from the Kurdistan-province town of Marivan and within the same mountain world that stretches across the frontier into Iraqi Kurdistan.
The land here is steep and folded, a country of terraced slopes, walnut and pomegranate orchards, oak forests, and villages clinging to near-vertical mountainsides.
The Stepped Town
Paveh’s most striking feature is the way it is built. Like the famous villages of Hawraman, the town rises up the mountainside in tightly stacked terraces, so that the flat roof of one house serves as the courtyard or street for the house above it. This “stepped” style, built from local stone, is perfectly adapted to the steep terrain and has become the signature image of the whole Hawraman region.
Hawraman: A World Apart
Paveh belongs to Hawraman (Uramanat), a mountainous Kurdish region straddling the Iran–Iraq border that has preserved a distinct identity for centuries. Its dry-stone terraces, its irrigation and farming traditions, and its villages — such as the celebrated Uraman Takht — form a cultural landscape so remarkable that UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List in 2021. Isolated by its mountains, Hawraman kept old ways of life and an ancient character long after they faded elsewhere.
Language, Saints, and Tradition
Hawraman has its own form of Kurdish — Hawrami, part of the Gorani group — which was once a major literary language of the Kurds, used at the court of the Ardalan princes. The region is also rich in living tradition, above all the famous Pir Shalyar ceremony of Uraman Takht, an ancient winter ritual that draws people from across Kurdistan. Together, language and ritual make Hawraman one of the deepest reservoirs of old Kurdish culture.
Paveh Today
Today Paveh is a lively Kurdish town and the gateway to the Iranian Hawraman, increasingly visited by travellers drawn to its stepped streets and the spectacular villages around it. Yet beneath the growing tourism it remains what it has long been: the urban heart of a proud highland Kurdish region that has guarded its language, its architecture, and its traditions against the centuries.
Timeline
ancient era — Hawraman develops its distinctive terraced villages and Hawrami (Gorani) culture.
Ardalan era — Hawrami serves as a literary language at the court of the Kurdish Ardalan princes.
1979 — Paveh sees fighting in the early clashes of the Iranian revolution in Kurdistan.
2021 — The Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
today — Paveh thrives as the main town and gateway of the Iranian Hawraman.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Paveh?
Paveh (Pawe) is a Kurdish town in the north-west of Kermanshah province in western Iran, in the Hawraman mountains near the Iraqi border.
What is Paveh famous for?
Paveh is famous for its stepped, terraced architecture, where the roof of one house forms the courtyard of the next, and as the main town of the Iranian Hawraman.
What is Hawraman?
Hawraman (Uramanat) is a distinctive Kurdish mountain region straddling Iran and Iraq, known for its terraced villages, its Hawrami language, and its ancient traditions — a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape since 2021.
What language do people speak in Paveh?
Many people in the Hawraman region speak Hawrami, part of the Gorani group of Kurdish, alongside other Kurdish dialects and Persian.
Related People, Places, and Topics
Hawraman (Uramanat) · Uraman Takht · the Hawrami (Gorani) language · Pir Shalyar · Marivan · Kermanshah.
References and Further Reading
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