Isfahan is Half the World

Twice the capital of Persia, Isfahan was filled with beautiful and impressive palaces, mosques, bridges and other sites.  At its zenith, Isfahan was so glorious it became known by the rhyme Isfahan Nesf-e Jahan’ or “Isfahan is Half the World.” 

After a typical Iranian breakfast of tea, tomatoes and cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, and flat bread with jam, we went to see Chehel Sotoun Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Milad explained to us that the name means “Forty Columns” in Farsi.  Twenty slender columns hold up the portico roof and are seen in the water of a long reflecting pool in front of the pavilion, giving the illusion of forty columns.

Chehel Sotoun was a grand pavilion, built to receive ambassadors and dignitaries by Shah Abbas II in 1647. Stunning mirror work on the ceiling and walls of the portico gave way to an equally stunning interior reception hall. Brilliantly colored murals in the style of traditional Persian miniature painting covered the walls and depicted hunting parties and battles as well as scenes of feasting and dance.

A short walk from Chehel Sotoun found us at Naqsh-e Jahan Square (or Imam Square), another UNESCO World Heritage site. The second largest square in the world after Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, it contained two mosques, a palace and a bazaar in addition to many handicrafts shops and souvenir stalls which line the long arcades. School girls were lined up to take horse drawn carriage rides around the square and the air was filled with the sounds of bells and horse hooves hitting the pavement. 

After walking around Imam Square, we then went to see the Ali Qapu Palace. There were many floors to the palace and we climbed up steep, winding sets of stairs to reach the most spectacular room, the Music Room. Instrumentalists and singers performed from high balconies overlooking the audience in this intimate space. The honey comb stucco ceiling of the Music Room was punctured by beautiful vase-like shapes and the walls were gilded and painted to dazzling effect.

I walked out onto the balcony of the palace and was met with a sweeping view of Imam Square and the distant mountains in the background. The royal family used to watch polo matches from this vantage point. The stone goal post markers for the polo field still remained on either end of the great lawn.

We crossed to the opposite side of Imam Square to see the Sheikh-Lotfollah Mosque which was built as a private mosque for the family of the royal court.  It was a space which was both intimate and grand. The walls were covered with beautiful tiles and punctuated with latticed arched windows. The patterned ceiling was most spectacular feature.  Designed to suggest an open peacock tail, if you looked closely at the very center of the dome, you could see the body and head of the peacock.  

We were admiring the ceiling when two school girls came over to ask us where we were from and to offer us some of the snacks they had brought with them. I went and joined the girls and their friends in the middle of the mosque.  A shaft of light had entered the room from a window near the ceiling, creating a brightly area on the floor.  It was the perfect spot to make shadow puppets and we all had a good time trying our hand at it.

After a nice lunch of rice and kebabs, we visited the nearby workshop of a tablecloth maker.  The owner of the shop showed us how the canvas tablecloths were stamped by hand with carved blocks, each successive block adding to the pattern and color of the design.  This was one of the traditional handicrafts that Isfahan artisans are famous for and I had no choice but to purchase a beautiful teal colored tablecloth to bring home.

The last place we saw on the Square this afternoon was the Imam Mosque, considered to be a masterpiece of Persian architecture. Intended as a public mosque, it was an immense building with four iwan (three sided vaulted halls) on opposite sides of a large central courtyard. Turquoise, Persian blue and dark blue glazed tiles cover the walls, vaults and domes creating a serene effect. 

The Jolfa neighborhood, also known as the Armenian Quarter of Isfahan was our next destination and the first place we visited was Vank Cathedral. The nave and chancel were surprisingly small for a space called a cathedral but the interior was grand nevertheless. Elements of Persian Islamic architecture were combined with distinctly Christian decoration.  Every surface was gilded and Italian Renaissance style paintings covered the ceilings and walls. The vividly colored frescoes illustrated the story of the Bible from Adam and Eve to Jesus to the Last Judgment.  

After a visit to the Armenian Museum, a very small museum with pictures, photos and artifacts related to Armenian culture and history, we stopped at Armani Carpets to “have a look around.”  The salesman did his best to try and get me to buy one of his gorgeous carpets, incrementally reducing the price from $10,000 all the way down to $4,000 and then, finally, “make me an offer and I will throw in a husband for free.”  Milad was no help when I asked him to rescue me from this temptation.  Eventually I managed to convince the carpet seller that I would not be buying a carpet and left with my wallet intact.

We still had more to see and dropped by the shop of a miniature painter. Miniature painting is an traditional Iranian handicraft.   Painting on thin pieces of camel bone with the finest of brushes, the painter paints without magnification to produce a small, very detailed painting.  It was interesting to watch him work and he kindly gave me a small sample of his work to take home as a keepsake.  

We returned to Imam Square to see it at night and to do a bit of browsing at the Qeysari Bazaar.  There were lots of people out and about enjoying the evening and shopping. painting.  We saw a demonstration of another traditional Iranian handicraft, Minakari (enamel painting on metal) and then wandered some more, looking at shops before stopping at a small coffee shop located at a little courtyard in the bazaar.  Back out in Imam Square we took in the beautiful view under the moonlight before heading to our hotel for a good night’s sleep.