Sorry that this has taken so long in the making; there was a fair amount of work involved in getting it all together and I am having computer problems (20th January 2007). It is all a bit much and one day I may split it up into several pages ... but not yet. Please don't tell me that I have missed anything - I just don't want to know!

SASSANIAN PALACE (Sarvestan)

We visited this palace on 6th November. It is located about nine kilometres south of Sarvestan and has the oldest brick dome in Iran.

Sassanian Palace

A photo of two squinches as introduced to me by Our Fearless Leader

NARENJENSTAN (The Orangery, Shiraz) Day11 – 4th November

A 19th century merchant’s house, originally belonging to the Ghavam family.

MAHMOUDI HOUSE - Kahen Lariha (Yazd) 9th November 2006 - Day 16

A 19th century merchant’s house. It has a beautiful garden with a pool over which sits a huge wooden charpoy.

Garden

Interesting wall and ceiling decorations

CHEHEL SOTUN PALACE - 40 pillar palace (Esfahan)

About Chehel Sotun

From the entrance towards the pavilion

This is the most important surviving pavilion of the Safavid period. The palace takes its name from the reflection of its 20 pillars in the reflection pool in front of it. Each pillar is made up of a single tree trunk and is 16 metres high and they were once painted and gilded.

Looking back from the pavilion towards the gardens and reflection pool

It was the place where the Safavid rulers received foreign dignitaries. Shah Soleyman was invested here in 1668.

Inside is a gallery where murals depict battles, feasts and leisure activities.

HASHT BEHESHT PALACE - (Princes’ Palace - The Harem) - Esfahan

The name means “Eight Paradises” a reference to the eight apartments in the palace. The building has two storeys with a small apartment at each corner and a central courtyard over which there is a dome. The courtyard contains a reflection pool. The apartments are octagonal and consist of a small reception room, a small and a large sleeping chamber. Each is decorated differently and we were told that the decorations reflect the individual taste of the inhabitants.

The palace is set in “The Garden of Nightingales, it was built about 1660 under Shah Sulaiman. The building was restored in the 1970s and the work was completed in 1977.

We were only able to look at the ground floor rooms where the wall paintings can be seen, and although they are not complete it is possible to get a good idea of what they must have looked like in their heyday.

ALI QAPU (Reception Palace) - Esfahan

The Ali Qapu - view from the Maydam

Constructed around 1600 ahe Ali Qapu is often called the Safavid palace but it was actually the High Door into the royal compound and from where the Shah and his court viewed parades and polo matches taking place in the Maydam.

View ofthe Maydam from the viewing platform

The viewing platform is accessed via a narrow stair, rising four floors. The steps are steep and tiled, making the ascent and more particularly the descent rather dangerous.

Steep and slippery spiral stair

At present the Ali Qapu is being restored and there was a great deal of scaffolding on the viewing platform. However, the view over the Maydam is well worth the climb.

The walls of the small rooms are beautifully decorated

The music rooms, where musicians played to the royal court, have interesting acoustic niches which act as sound boxes.

17th century acoustics