THE HISTORY AND WONDERS OF ISFAHAN - THE PERSIAN FLORENCE

  Written by Giuditta Andrei

The principle of evolution begins with the history of Iran.

Hegel

The Philosophy of History

Iran is a mountainous, arid and ethnically diverse country in Southwest Asia and is considered a cradle of human civilisation having one of the oldest and noblest histories in the world. Over time Iran has assumed a very important role as an imperial power and a centre of education, culture and trade.

The country is home to more than 20 Unesco World Heritage Sites, such as the archaeological site of Persepolis or Pasargadae, and is still home to one of the richest artistic heritages in the history of the world, ranging from architecture, painting, weaving, ceramics, calligraphy, to metalwork and stonework.

Iran's direct legacy can be found throughout the Middle East, Caucasus, Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

Formerly known as Persia, present-day Iran has been influenced by waves of different conquerors and civilisations. In fact, historians claim that Persian civilisation first emerged in 550 B.C.E., over a thousand years before the birth of Islam and two centuries before the exploits of Alexander the Great.

Under the rule of Persia's first dynasty, the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330) and its king Cyrus the Great, who laid the foundations of the Law over a wide range of diverse citizens and cultures, the Persian Empire was considered the largest ever consolidated, an Empire stretching from Turkey to Egypt to Central Asia and Northern India.

At its peak, the Persian Empire occupied 5,500,000 square kilometres and in terms of size would still rank second behind Australia (7,692,000 square kilometres). Moreover, at its peak, the Persian Empire controlled 44% of the world's population (49 million people out of 112), with today's population estimates it would be like ruling China, India, the United States and Indonesia, the four largest countries in the world.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote:

"Cyrus the Great and these great ancient Empires are part of world history".

The Sasanian Empire that took root in 224, after the fall of the Achaemenids, fought avidly against the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantine incursions, practised Zoroastrianism as the state religion until the arrival of Islam in 636.

During this historical period, Persia established itself as the cultural centre of the ancient world.

The flourishing trade routes and the art of painting, sculpture and textiles, which boasted the production of the well-known Persian carpets, became a key feature of the Empire's identity.

After the fall of the Sasanian Empire in 651 AD, the Persians became part of the Muslim world. Control by the Rashiduns, the first of the Islamic Caliphates that began the expansion of Islam, led Zoroastrianism to its decline, yet the largely established Persian culture made important contributions to the established Arab rule.

For instance, the Persian language enjoyed an incredible revival and the art of poetry found a new audience to address. The Persians made important advances in the discipline of medical science, influencing medieval Europe with their knowledge and discoveries.

A scholar from the Royal Asiatic Society, the UK's oldest academic society on Asia, wrote in 1843:

The history of the Persian poets is the history of the Persian nation; it is the biography of their greatest men, whose lives, actions, feelings and tastes are all, to a greater or lesser extent, associated with poetry and influenced by the poetic impulse. Lives have been sacrificed, or spared, cities annihilated or redeemed, Empires subverted or restored, by the influence of poetry alone.

The city of Isfahan has a long history from the Pre-Islamic period and is considered Iran's national treasure.

Chosen as the capital during the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722) in the late 17th century, Isfahan assumed an important central role as a crossroads in trade due to its strategic location on the Silk Road. 400 years ago, Isfahan was bigger than London and more cosmopolitan than Paris. Merchants from modern Europe, Turkey, India and China gathered there, while early travellers came to Isfahan's huge square to discuss art and literature.

The city was known to be a religiously tolerant and hospitable centre for the persecuted, a place of triumph for mercantile and diplomatic activities. Elegant and picturesque bridges spanned the modest river, while the use of sophisticated engineering techniques enabled the erection of beautiful palaces, hundreds of domes and minarets.

Numerous gardens adorned with trees, flowers and fountains surrounded wealthy Isfahan, also known as the Florence of the East.

There is an old saying in Iran that states Isfahan Nesf-e Jahan, meaning Isfahan is half the world.

During the reign of Shah Abbas I, known as Abbas the Great, fifth Safavid Shah of Persia, the city was renovated with the construction of many of the monuments and harmonious buildings for which Isfahan is remembered today. New roads, bridges, caravanserais, libraries, hospitals and public baths were the norm during this period. Isfahan was the epitome of Islamic-Persian architecture and town planning and all of this amazed Western visitors who came here and had never seen anything like it.

Certainly, as we have already mentioned, the history of Isfahan cannot be separated from the name of Shah Abbas I or The Great (1588-1629), one of the greatest rulers of Persia.

Raised in Herat, the cultural centre of Iran in the 16th century, the future ruler was a passionate connoisseur of the Arts from childhood. Once in power, he promoted Culture and the Arts, making Persia prosper in all respects, an influence still present in the very essence of today's Iran. Shah Abbas was known as the strongest leader of the Empire and a brilliant strategist with an army of 40,000 soldiers, who faced the expulsion of Ottoman and Uzbek troops who had invaded vast territories of Persia before his ascension.

In 1587 he was crowned King, eliminated those who might have opposed his ascension and reached his peak in his late twenties. He was famous for being a very energetic person, an assiduous hunter and a skilled craftsman, he used to make scimitars and saddles for his horses, wove cloth and distilled flower water with his own hands.

Although almost illiterate, he was a skilled conversationalist with a thirst for knowledge, was interested in learning about the conditions in the homelands of visitors who came to Isfahan, travelled among his people, even incognito, and used to discuss other religions in a tolerant manner.

The Italian traveller and Orientalist Pietro della Valle, who travelled throughout Asia during the Renaissance period, was amazed by the Shah's knowledge of Christian history and theology and his ability to establish diplomatic ties with European powers and the Church of Rome.

Della Valle's secret hope was the creation of an alliance between Christianity and the Muslim ruler in an anti-Ottoman function. The traveller wrote a report in which he honoured the personal qualities of the Shah, debunking the criticism levelled at him by Western detractors. Della Valle described the king as:

Indefatigable hunter, scrupulous courtier, expert soldier, excellent captain, quirky knight, prince above all affable and king of great government. King Abbas is truly a prince endowed with many good qualities, and that the bad things that his malevolents note in him are either not true at all, or, if they are true, they are for the most part worthy of excuse; And in the end it cannot but be said that he is a great king and a great hero; and that as those who have sold and practised him cannot but admire him, so the fame which even now in life celebrates him, will not fail to celebrate him still after death, and raise him among the most worthy heroes in the centuries to come.

Abbas never undertook any project without following the astrologer's advice, in 1598 he moved the Safavid capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, where he began planning a city completely new, worthy of its power, which quickly became one of the most beautiful cities in the world and whose change of status increased its population. Supposedly, Isfahan had 162 mosques, 48 madrasas, 1802 commercial buildings and 283 baths. Only a few of these remain to this day.

Naghsh-e Jahan Square

Known as the Royal Square or Shah Square, its origin dates back to when Isfahan became the capital at the behest of Abbas, who decided to build it with the aim of making it the national splendour. The square was the centre of the Safavid dynasty and the Persian Empire and played an important role in local and national economic prosperity, being an important stop for cosmopolitan trade.

Today, in this square, we could imagine the buzz of the many merchants, shopkeepers, buyers, artisans who settled there or smell the spices in the large Bazaar, a reality still present today. The square is 560m long and 160m wide and is one of the largest in the world.

In the background it is framed by turquoise-domed mosques, a palace perched on columns and the main historical monuments that can still be visited today.

Once again, the traveller Pietro della Valle, on arriving in Persia, when observing the square in Isfahan, was so enchanted by it that its beauty eclipsed from his thoughts the splendours of Piazza Navona in Rome, his city of origin:

One of these is the Meidan or Piazza Maggiore, in front of the royal palace, about 690 paces long and 230 wide; And all around of the same order of architecture, equal, fair and never interrupted neither by roads nor by anything else, made of large arcades and floors below of shops with different merchandise arranged in order from place to place; and above; with balconies, windows, with a thousand very vague ornaments. This union of architecture appears so good to the eye that, although the houses of Piazza Navona are taller and richer in our custom, nevertheless, because of their discordance and other details that I will tell you about the Meidan of Isfahan, I dare to place it before Piazza Navona itself.

Shah/Jameh Abbasi Mosque

Beautifully decorated with colourful tiles that create unique and beautiful mosaic patterns with calligraphic inscriptions, those who visit Jameh Abbasi Mosque admire with ambition, below the dome, an out-of-place stone that has marked an important acoustic point since its construction, allowing the sound of the praying voice to echo strongly.

The Mosque was inherited by the Safavids and completed by the Seljuks and consists of four Iwans, towering gates and two 42 metre high minarets topped by beautifully carved wooden balconies with muqarnas running along the sides. At the entrance and inside, worshippers would find a large marble basin set on a pedestal, filled with fresh water, still standing after 400 years, but now unused.

It was said to have contained 18 million bricks and over 400,000 tiles in its heyday.

Sheikh Lutfallah Mosque

In the eastern wing of the square is an apparently small Mosque and this is the first monument to be erected in the city of Abbas.The sheikh to whom it was dedicated and where he properly resided is indeed Lutfallah, a Shiite imam and teacher of Islamic law, part of the imperial family.

The Mosque was built for the use of the king and his family, which is why there are no minarets, as the muezzin's voice was not meant to call the entire community to prayer. Visiting it, one is astonished by the meticulously mathematical design of this mosque.

In both the Shah Mosque and the Sheikh Lutfallah Mosque, the unprecedented use of colour dominates the entrance doors, domes, and interiors. Indeed, the use of polychromatic tiles as ornamentation has been known since the dawn of Persian history, but it was the Safavids who established colour as an essential component of this architecture, giving a special value to the aesthetics of the buildings constructed.

Chehel Sotun Palace

The Chehel Sotun Palace is certainly reminiscent of the ancient tales set in the wonderful Persian palaces we have hea rd of at least once.

Its construction dates back to the 17th century and consists of a columned outdoor veranda and a swimming pool at its front. On the east side is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a typically Persian garden of rectangular shape, consisting of long rows of trees leading up to a majestic pavilion, originally designed as a reception hall, built in typical Achaemenid style.

Inside, the palace consists of a main hall known as the Hall of Mirrors and 10 other rooms. Various styles have been used in its design such as paintings, frescoes, fretwork, inlaid designs and mirrors, and other illustrations, each depicting royal festive scenes and moments of warlike glory.

Khaju Bridge

The Khaju Bridge is one of the most beautiful bridges in Isfahan and all of Iran, built in the 17th century over what was a much older bridge.

In ancient times, the main river, Zayande Rud, was historically the lifeblood of the city and several bridges were built to cross it. The name of the Khaju bridge derives from the Khajes, i.e. the courtiers who once lived in a neighbourhood nearby when the construction work was started.

The bridge, which can still be visited and walked on, has two levels: the first served as a pedestrian area while the second was crossed by horsemen, carts and caravans. Its structure is 12 metres wide and 133 metres long and still preserves the main pavilion, the beautiful tiles decorating it and the Shah's stone seats.

An engineering innovation still visible on this bridge today are the locks that were installed under the lower arches to control the inflow and outflow of water to irrigate nearby gardens.

But the magic happens in the evening, when the bridge is illuminated by bright lights and people gather there to sing.

Ali Qapu

The grand Ali Qapu is located on the western side of the square and is one of the most beautiful architectural examples of the Safavid dynasty and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The complex covers an imposing area of 1800 square metres with six storeys of height reached on a spiral staircase of 94 steps. In the Palace, which was the official residence of the Persian emperors, kings and courtiers held their meetings with foreign ambassadors there.

Inside, there were a number of banquets, a music room and the royal harem; from his private balcony overlooking the square, the king could admire the ceremonies and take part in typical games, such as the game of polo or the game of wild wolves.

The entrance to the palace is decorated with typically Persian paintings and calligraphy, the portico has 18 columns and a copper pool, unique for its time, which was filled with hot or cold water via a special pump, which transferred water to all floors of the palace. The palace in its current architectural and decorative style is the result of additions commissioned by successive Safavid Kings.