|
|
|
|
| Naghsh-i Jahan Square, also known as "shah" or "imam" square, situated at the center of Isfahan city, Iran, is the one of largest city squares in the world. It is an important historical site and one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The square is surrounded by important historical buildings from the Safavid era. The Shah Mosque is situated on the south side of this square. On the west side you can find Ali Qapu Palace. Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque is situated on the eastern side of this square and the northern side opens into the Isfahan Grand Bazaar. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ali Qapu (the Sublime Gate) is a grand palace in Isfahan, Iran. It is located on the western side of the Naghsh-i Jahan Square opposite to Sheikh lotf allah mosque, and had been originally designed as a vast portal. It is 48 meters high and there are 7 floors, each accessible by a difficult spiral staircase. In the sixth floor music room, deep circular niches are found in the walls, having not only aesthetic value, but also acoustic.
The name Ali Qapu, (Turkish for "high gate"), was given to this place as it was right at the entrance to the Safavid palaces which stretched from the Maidan Naqsh-i-Jahan to the Chahar Bagh Boulevard. The building, another wonderful Safavid edifice, was built by decree of Shah Abbas the Great in the early 17th 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 Noruz (New Year's Day) of 1006 AH / 1597 A.D. A large and massive rectangular structure, the Ali Qapu is 48 meters high and has six floors, fronted with a wide terrace whose ceiling is inlaid and supported by wooden columns.
Ali Qapu 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 Qapu 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 Qapu. 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 ).
The Ali Qapu 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: Foundation 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. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shah / Imam Mosque is a mosque in Isfahan (Eşfahān), Iran standing in south side of Naghsh-i Jahan Square. Built during the Safavids period, it is an excellent example of Islamic architecture of Iran, and regarded as the masterpiece of Persian Architecture. The Imam Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran and all over the world. It is registered along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611, and its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-color mosaic tiles and calligraphic inscriptions.
The portWEWTl of the mosque measures 27 meters high, crowned with two minarets 42 meters tall. The Mosque it is surrounded with four iwans and arcades. All the walls are ornarnented with seven-color mosaic tile. The most magnificent iwan of the mosque is the one facing the Qibla measuring 33 meters high. Behind this iwan is a space which is roofed with the largest dome in the city at 52 meters height. The dome is double layered.
The acoustic properties and reflections at the central point under the dome is an amusing interest for many visitors. There are two seminaries at the southwest and southeast sections of the mosque. The architects of the mosque are reported to be the following masters:
- Ustad Ali Akbar Isfahani
- Ustad Fereydun Naini
- Ustad Shoja' Isfahani
The mosque is one of the treasures featured on Around the World in 80 Treasures presented by the architecture historian Dan Cruickshank.
The wooden door of the mosque, covered with layers of gold and silver, is ornamented with some poems written in Nasta'liq script. The overall entrance hall proves the mastery of the designer of the building. The master architect has designed two passageways being different in length on both sides of the hall to assimilate the axis of the mosque to the direction of kiblah which has an angle of 45 degrees, to cover the change of direction without losing the proportions.
The Mosque is surrounded with four ivans and arcades. All the walls are ornarnented with seven-color mosaic tile. The most magnificent ivan of the mosque is the one which is toward kiblah measuring 33 meters high and has two minarets being 48 meters high. Behind this ivan is a space which is roofed with the most enormous dome of the city being 52 meters high. The dome consists of two covers. The outer cover is 12 meters away from the inner one. The reflection of sounds at the central point under the dome is a physical phenomenon which is very interesting and wonderful for many visitors. There are two schools for religious education at the southwest and southeast of the mosque. The southwest school has an inscription from the Safavid period. There is also an indicator stone, inserted in the inscription, the shape of which is right-angled triangle. This stone shows the mid-day of all the days of the year scientifically in a simple way. The mosque has two halls in the east and west part of its interior. The eastern hall is bigger but its walls are covered with plaster without any ornamentation while the walls and ceiling of the western hall are covered with seven-color mosaic tiles. The mihrab of this hall, which is one of the most beautiful ones of the mosque, has an inscription written by the master artist, Mohammad Reza Emami. Of the other valuable things in the mosque we can mention the water stones. The one placed in the entrance hall lack any inscription but it has some beautiful engraved designs. There are also two water stones under the domes of the eastern and western ivans but the most precious is the western Chehelsotoun one which has beautiful designs round the upper part and an inscription in verse which shows the date of its creation, 1684.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Situated on the eastern side of Naghsh-i Jahan Square, Sheikh Lutfullah Mosque was constructed between 1602 to 1619 A.D. in Shah Abbas (I)'s era.
The monument's architect was Mohammadreza Isfahani. He solved the problem of the difference between the direction of kaabeh and gateway of the building by devising a connecting vestibule between the entrance and the enclosure.
The diameter of the inner dome is 12m laid on walls with the thickness of 170cm. One of the unique characteristics of the mosque is the peacock at the center of its dome. If you stand at the entrance gate of the inner hall and look at the center of the dome, a peacock whose tail is the sunrays came in from the hole in the ceiling could be seen. The mosque was named after Sheikh Lutfullah, a religious leader from what is now Lebanon who was invited to Isfahan and was paid special attention by the Safavid king . |
|
|
|
|
Manar jonban ( Shaking Minarets ) |
|
|
|
| The famous Shaking Minarets. Twin towers flank a porch with a very wide ogive. If you lean out of an embrasure at the top of the tower and sway your body regulary, the tower starts oscillating in a perfectly visible manner and soon the second minaret starts moving also. For a long time, this curious phenomenon was attributed to the magic powers of the holy priest buried under the ivan The building know as manar jonban is the mausoleum of amoo abloallh garladani , an Iranian mystic living in the 14 century dating back to ilakhanid period(1256-1353) and facing Mecca( Kabe) ,it is a single iwan flanked by two minarets It is seems that the minarets are later annexes their architecture allows them to be shaken with shaking each one ,the other also shakes – hence the name this always had a great fascination for Iranian and foreign visitors so that it has overshadowed the other architectural and historical charactristics . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chehel Sotoun (also Chehel Sotoon) is a charming pavilion in the middle of a park at the far end of a long pool, in Isfahan, Iran, built by Shah Abbas II to be used for the Shah's entertainment and receptions. In this palace, Shah Abbas II and his successors would receive dignitaries and ambassadors, either on the terrace or in one of the stately reception halls.
The name, "Forty Columns," was inspired by the twenty slender wooden columns supporting the entrance pavilion, which, when reflected in the waters of the fountain, are said to appear to be forty.
As with Ali Qapu, the palace contains many frescoes and paintings on ceramic. Many of the ceramic panels have been dispersed and are now in the possession of major museums in the west. They depict specific historical scenes such as a reception for an Uzbek King in 1646, when the palace had just been completed; a banquet in honor of the King of Turkestan in 1611; the battle of Chalderan against the Osmanli King in 1514 in which the Persians fought without firearms; the welcome extended to a Mongol King who took refuge in Iran in 1544; the battle of Taher-Abad in 1510 where the Safavid Shah Ismail I vanquished and killed the Uzbek King. A more recent painting depicts Nadir Shah's victory against the Indian Army at Karnal in 1747. There are also less historical, but even more aesthetic compositions in the traditional miniature style which celebrate the joy of life and love. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Julfa is a quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located on the outskirts of the city. In the beginning of the 17th century (during the Safavid period), over 150 000 Armenians were moved there by force from Julfa in Nakhichevan. New Julfa is still an Armenian populated area with an Armenian school. Vank Cathedral, the Church of Bethlehem at Nazar Avenue, Saint Mary church at Julfa Square and the Yerevan church in the Yerevan area are all placed there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 33 Pol or Allah-Verdi Khan is one of the 33 bridges of Isfahan, Iran. It is highly ranked as being one of the most famous examples of Safavid bridge design.Commissioned in 1602 by Shah Abbas I from his chancelor Allahverdi Khan Undiladze, an Iranian ethnic Georgian, it consists of two layers of 33 arches (hence the Persian name, Sioseh, which means 33). There is a larger base plank at the start of the bridge where the river Zayandeh rud flows into it, with a mounted tea house there. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Chaharbagh Boulevard is a historical boulevard in the city of Isfahan in Iran dating from the Saffavid era.The famous Champs-Élysées boulevard (Paris) was designed after this beautiful inner-city lane. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Ultimate Relaxation with Iran Travel Mart tours.
Are you looking for a relaxing vacation in a tropical paradise, historical cities or cool trips? These are all different tours and accommodations that Iran Travel Mart offers to you from Your arrival onwards.
We create exclusive vacations for all sorts of groups and individuals. Being totally independent, we are able to offer you trustable recommendations all based on our hard achieved experiences. For more information about our tours and accommodations please sending your questions for: Info@irantravelmart.com
Or just click here and fill the questions and comments form
For reservation of any packages or accommodation, you can send your requests to: Reserve@irantravelmart.com
Or just click here and fill the form reservation form. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ghalamkar Decoration
Size:100 x 100 cm
Price: US$ 27.00 |
 |
|
Naieen Carpet
All Natural Colors, 3ft x 5 ft
Pile and Fringe: Silk
Price: $2800 |
 |
|
Work on Copper
Circle Tray, 25 cm Diameter
Price: US$ 55.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
