Isfahan .. naghsh-e-jahan

Naghshe Jahan Square
The biggest historic square in the world .. Isfahan, Iran.

Naghsh - e - Jahan
on the present site of Meydan-e-Emam before Isfahan became the Safavid capital, there used to be another square called naqsh-e-Jahan (Design of the world), much smaller than the square today.
It was Shah Abbas the Great who made Isfahan his capital and then decreed that the square should be extended to its present size, and lovely buildings set around it. The length of this great square, which is actually rectangular, is 500 meters from north to south, and its width about 150 meters from east to west. It was laid out and beautified in the reign of Shah Abbas the Great, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. From that time until sixty years ago the square presented a very different aspect from the square to day. The whole area of the square within the limits of the water channels round it was quite level, while to the north and south stood two goal posts for the game of polo. Those two goals posts are still in position but replanning with large pool in the center, and lower beds round has transformed the square and given it a completely new look. Most of the buildings round are two-storied and the alcoves simply decorated.
To the south of Maidan can be seen the great pile of Abbasi Jami (Masjid-e-Shah) - the Royal Mosque a vista of blue, - to the east is Sheikh Lutf Allah Mosque quite unequaled - to the west the royal palace of Shah Abbas the Great, Ali Qapo and to the north the Qaysariyeh gateway leading to the Royal Bazaar. The most noteworthy feature of the square is the way in which in sunshine and shade and the varying lights of the day, the whole wonderful expanse takes on a hundred different aspects each more attractive and lovely. If, as some foreign travelers have said, (Isfahan is the heart of the Orient), then Meydan-e-Emam is certainly the heart of Isfahan.
We can still appreciate its wonder on viewing it today, but imagination is needed to recapture the glory of four centuries ago. Let us try to imagine Isfahan four centuries ago. First place a hundred and ten cannons a hundred and ten paces from each side of the entrance to Ali Qapo palace, for a hundred and ten computed in the ancient letters gives the name of the Prophet`s son-in-law, Ali, who was especially venerated by the Safavid King. The palace itself has all the dazzling beauty of the period, lovely doors and all kind of expensive objects and furnishings.
Shah Abbas, of the piercing glance, sits there, surrounded by all the important personalities and ambassadors of the day, Persians and foreigners, and from the lofty gallery views the polo and other maneuvers of his Qezelbash guards below.This will give you some idea of Isfahan`s former greatness. The Qaysariyeh and the entrance of the Royal Bazaar, built in 1619, stand at the north end of the Maidan. The frescoes and painted pendentives of this gateway are still worth note. The frescoes, which picture the war of Shah Abbas, the Great with the Uzbecks, have faded badly in the air and sunlight, but the roof pendentives are still in good condition. Above the gateway here is some lovely mosaic tiling: these show the play of the star Sagittarius, the Archer, for in the old day eastern writers considered that Isfahan was under the influence of this star. The symbol of the archer shows a creature, half-man, half-tiger, with a large snake for its tail and this is depicted in the tilework here.The doorway of the Qaysariyeh opens into the Royal Bazaar, where you can find all kinds of hand-woven, hand-printed cloth being sold and you can also go in and see how the patterns are made and applied. This Bazaar has a wonderful painted crossroads, dating from Safavid times, the most beautiful and most important arches crossroads in Isfahan. At that same period, the upper galleries of the gateway used to contain bands of musicians and at sunset each evening the bands would strikes up, with kettle-drums, trumpets, horns and all kinds of military music.

Isfahan .. Ali Qapu

Ali Qapu

The royal palace ,dominates the south eastern side of the naghsh-e-jahan squar.

Ali Qapoo
The name Ali Qapoo, (Magnificent Gate), was given to this place as it was right at the entrance to the Safavid palaces which stretched from the Maidan Naqsh-e-Jahan to the Chahar Bagh Boulevard.
The building, another wonderful Safavid edifice, was built by decree of Shah Abbas the Great in the early seventeenth century. It was here that the great monarch used to entertain noble visitors, and foreign ambassadors.
Shah Abbas, here for the first time celebrated the Now - ruz (New Year`s Day) of 1006 AH / 1597 A.D. A large and massive rectangular structure, the Ali Qapoo is 48 meters high and has six floors, fronted with a wide terrace whose ceiling is inlaid and supported by wooden columns.
Ali Qapoo is rich in naturalistic wall paintings by Reza Abbassi, the court painter of Shah Abbas I, and his pupils. There are floral, animal, and bird motifs. The highly ornamented doors and windows of the palace have almost all been pillaged at times of social anarchy. Only one window on the third floor has escaped the ravages of time. Ali Qapoo was repaired and restored substantially during the reign of Shah Sultan Hussein, the last Safavid ruler, but fell into a dreadful state of dilapidation again during the short reign of invading Afghans. under the Qajar Nasir al-Din shah`s reign (1848-96), the Safavid cornices and floral tiles above the portal were replaced by tiles bearing inscriptions.
Shah Abbas II was enthusiastic about the embellishment and perfection of Ali Qapoo. His chief contribution was given to the magnificent hall, the constructures on the third floor. The 18 columns of the hall are covered with mirrors and its ceiling is decorated with great paintings.
The chancellery was stationed on the first floor. On the sixth, the royal reception and banquets were held. The largest rooms are found on this floor. The stucco decoration of the banquet hall abounds in motif of various vessels and cups. The sixth floor was popularly called (the music room).Here various ensembles performed music and sang songs. From the upper galleries, the Safavid ruler watched polo, maneuvers and the horse-racing opposite the square of Naqsh-e-Jahan.
Cause of Denomination :
The Ali Qapoo has multiple connotations, but generally connotes entrance or supreme gate to the complex of palaces and public buildings of the Safavid Government.
Construction Stages :
The Ali Qapoo building was founded in several stages, beginning from a building with a single gate, with entrance to the government building complex, and gradually developed, ending in the existing shape.
The period of the development, with intervals lasted approximately seventy years.
First Stage :
The initial building acting as entrance to the complex was in cubical shape and in two stories, with dimensions measuring 20 x 19 meter and 13 meter high.
Second Stage :
Foundation of the upper hall, built on the entrance vestibule, with cubical shape, over the initial cubic shape structure with the same height in two visible stories.
Third Stage :
Foundation of the fifth story, the music amphitheater or music hall, built on the lower hall, using the central room for sky light, and thus the vertical extension being emphasized.
Fourth Stage :
Fondation of the eastern verandah or pavilion advancing towards the square, supported by the tower shaped building. By foundation of this verandah, the entrance vestibule was extended along the main gate and passage to the market, perpendicular to the eastern flank of the building.
Fifth Stage :
Foundation of the wooden ceiling of the verandah, supported by 18 wooden columns, and contemporaneous with erection of the ceiling, an additional stairway of the southern flank was founded and was called the Kingly Stairway.
Sixth Stage :
During this stage a water tower was built in the northern flank for provision of water for the copper pool of the columned verandah.
Plaster decorations in reception story and music hall.
The room on the sixth floor is also decorated with plasterwork, representing pots and vessels and one is famous as the music and sound room. It is certainly well worth visiting for the cut out decorations round the room, which represent a considerable artistic feat. These cut out shapes were not placed there to act as cupboards: the stuccowork is most delicate and falls to pieces at the highest touch. So we conclude that it was placed in position in these rooms for ornament and decoration. The rooms were used for private parties and for the King`s musicians, and these hollow places in the walls retained the echoes and produced the sounds of the singing and musical instruments clearly in all parts.
Ceiling decorations :
The decoration of the large room on the third floor which opens out on the large pillared hall, and which was used by Shah Abbas for entertaining his official guests is the most interesting. Fortunately the ceilings, on which birds are depicted in their natural colors, have remained without interference in their original state from Safavid times, and these are the best roofs in the building.

Isfehan .. Si - o - Se Pol

Si - o - Se Pol

Si - o - Se Pol

he Bridge of Allahverdi Khan across the Zayandeh Rud is a continuation of Chahar Bagh, the principal street in Isfahan. Built at the beginning of the 17th century at the order of Shah Abbas, it is named after the general-a famous war- chief- who was put in charge of the work. It is also called the Bridge of 33 Arches, or Si-o-Se Pol.
It is 45 feet wide and 175 yards long but- although it is impressive looking- it does not have the same archaeological or aesthetic interest as the two other bridges farther downstream.
This bridge is located in the southern end of Chahar Bagh Avenue in Isfahan and was named after its founder. It is also known as Jolfa bridge.
The bridge is made of bricks and stones. It is 295 meters long and 13.75 meters wide. It is said that the bridge originally comprised 40 arches however this number gradually reduced to 33.
According to numerous historical references concerning the buildings constructed during Shah Abbas the Safavid in Isfahan, it is so conceived that the construction work of this bridge was completed concurrent with the construction of Chahar Bagh in 1596. This bridge is called Si-o-Se Pol (in Farsi meaning 33 bridges) because it embraces 33 arches.

isfahan .. 40sotoon

Ichehel sotoon

Palace of Forty Pillars

Chehel Setoon
his building -now a veritable museum of Persian painting and ceramics -was a pleasure pavilion used for the king`s entertainment`s and receptions.
It stands inside a vast royal park, but relatively near the enclosure, and was built by Shah Abbas II round an earlier building erected by Shah Abbas I. An inscription states that the decoration and frescoes were finished in 1647. Only two large historical frescoes date from the later period of the Zand dynasty. Unfortunately, the Chehel Sotun has been badly damaged since then, especially when the Afghans occupied the town and covered the paintings with a thick coat of whitewash. It is now being extensively restored under the aegis of the Institute Italiano Per il Medio Orient.
The pavilion opens onto the gardens by means of an elegant terrace, only a few steps high and supported by slender, delicate wooden pillars. In reality, there were never more than twenty columns, but they were reflected in the pool in the park, and so the Persian liked to call the building the (pavilion with forty columns) (besides, the number 40 had a symbolic meaning in Persia and expressed respect and admiration). Two rows of waterspouts and fountains in the shape of stone lions at the four corners carried water to the huge, elegant rectangular basin.
The terrace is a marvel of elegance. The slender pillars support a light wooden ceiling with wide fretwork louvers. Here we should note the influence of Eastern Asian architecture. Part of the sumptuous decoration has disappeared. We must picture the back wall covered with mirrors, the doors of rare carved wood, and the pillars, each cut from a single lane-tree trunk, with their fine eneer, their brightly colored paintings, their mirrors and studs of colored glass. We still have the remarkable ceiling its beams, its covering, its painted wood louvers, and its carefully lay-work-rosettes and suns, stars, stylized fruit and foliage. The great wooden ceilings-a rare luxury in a country so acking in trees-are among guarded by four lions which support the central columns.
The palace is called Chehel Sotun because of the number of the columns of this monument. Each column is formed of a plain tree on the skin of which a thin layer of colored board has been fitted. This layer was formerly covered with colored pieces of glass and mirror.All the walls used to be decorated with large mirrors and colored peices of glass and beautiful paintings. Inlaid work was a characteristic of all doors and windows. The pool in front of the building is 110 meters long and 16 meters wide. Four stone lions have been placed on the four sides of a pond in the center of the hall from whose open mouths water streams down. And finally the unique ceiling of the 18 column portico and the mirror work on the ceiling of the hall are eyecatching. The paintings demonstrating the parties held by Shah Abbas the great, and reception of Mohammad Vali Khan, the king of Turkistan, the war between Shah Ismail the first and the Ottoman forces in Chaldoran, the reception party in honor of Homayun the king of India and in the eastern section, in front of the painting scene of Shah Abbas` war with the Uzbeks, is seen the war waged by Nader Shah of Afshar dynasty against the Hindus in Kornal.

Isfehan .. hasht behesht

HASHT BEHESHT

The Eight Paradise Palazzo

HASHT BEHESHT

he Hasht Behesht (The Eight Paradise Palazzo) is an octagonal structure, typical of many royal palaces in Isfahan. Commissioned by Shah Sulieman, it was built about 1669 (about A.H. 1081).
The garden, is visible at all times through the great arches, is an integral part of the structure.
The domed ceiling of the main reception room is painted in purple on a glittering gold base, while above the windows, in the lantern dome, fragments of mirror sparkle in the light.Painting on the outer blind arches.
Painted tile designs of birds, animals, and hunting scenes, found on the spandrels of the outer blind arches, enliven the facades of the Hasht Behesht in Isfahan.
Hunting was a favorite pastime of the Shahs. Seven days before the court`s departure for a hunting trip the tents, rugs, gold services, and other prerequisites for the camp were sent off.From five to seven thousand camels were needed to transport this equipage.
The splendor of these hunting camps may be judged from the fact that each nobleman was allotted some five hundred square feet for his tent. Under the silk-lined canopies were rooms for his harem, a bath, and a reception hall.
The interiors were carpeted, strewn with soft cushions and draped in shimmering brocades.Pools and waterways adorned the site, and flowers blossomed in these (gardens for a day or two).
The ceiling in a second floor reception room of the Hasht Behesht glistens with mirror decoration.
The Hasht Behesht enhanced Chardin, writing in 1676. (When one walks in this place expressly made for the delights of love, and when one passes through all these cabinets and niches, one`s heart is melted to such an extent that, to speak candidly, one always leaves with a very ill grace. The climate without doubt contributes much towards exciting this amorous disposition; but assuredly these places, although in some respects little more than cardboard castles, are nevertheless more smiling and agreeable than our most sumptuous palaces).