Believe it or not, Persians are thought to be the oldest breed of cats, but at the same time, there are numerous different versions of where the Persian cat began. It is widely believed, however, in all versions that the Persian cat originated in the country that was once known as Persia, which is now modern day Iran.

The popular history of the Persian cat tells us that they were first introduced into Italy around about 1620 a man called Pietro della Valle and that at around about the same time they were introduced into France by somebody called Nicholas Claude Fabri de Peiresc. This does seem to be fairly well documented and it fits with all versions of the Persians history.

From France it is thought that the Persian was introduced into Britain, although at this time they did not have the long hair that we know of today. What happened is that they were bred in Turkey with the Turkish Angora cat, and this is where the long hair comes from. It does need to be pointed out that a lot of people think that the Persian was bred with the African wildcat and this is where their long hair came from.

There is no doubt, in any version, that Persians were always considered to be cats of high value. They were considered to be rare, and they were favored by royalty. In fact, there was a point in time where royalty were the only people who owned Persians ? or at the very least that Persians were only owned by people of royalty and/or wealth.

A number of people do think that the Persian is a descendant of Felis Libyca, which in case you didn't know is a cat that originated in Africa and Asia. The same people believe that the Persian was introduced into Europe much earlier than 1620, saying that the Persian was introduced in the 1500s by the Romans and Phoenicians.

We can be certain about the time that these special cats were first introduced to the United States and Canada. This occurred in the early 1900s, and from that time on, the cats gained in popularity, quickly becoming the most popular breed of cat in the world, which is a distinction that the breed still holds today. In fact, Persians started out as symbols, and became pets, after which they were prized for their show quality. Today, they are prized for their show and pet qualities, as many Persian owners never show their cats, while others are active exhibitors.