Kashan

Kashan is a city in the province of Isfahan, Iran. The name of the city comes from the word "Kashi", the Persian word for tile. Kashan is the first of the large oases along the Qom-Kerman road which runs along the edge of the central deserts of Iran. Its charm is thus mainly due to the contrast between the parched immensities of the deserts and the greenery of the well-tended oasis.

History

The artifacts uncovered at Sialk reside in the Louvre in Paris and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Iran's National Museum.

Sultan Malik Shah I of the Seljukian dynasty ordered the building of a fortress in the middle of Kashan in the 12th century. The fortress walls, called Ghal'eh Jalali still stand today in central Kashan.

Kashan was also a leisure vacation spot for Safavi Kings. Bagh-e Fin garden, specifically, is one of the most famous gardens of Iran. This beautiful garden with its pool and orchards was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings have been substantially replaced and rebuilt by the Qajar dynasty although the layout of trees and marble basins is close to the original. The garden itself however, was first founded 7000 years ago alongside the Cheshmeh-ye-Soleiman. The garden is also notorious as the sight of the murder of Mirza Taghi Khan known as Amir Kabir, chancellor of Nasser-al-Din Shah, Iran's King in 1852.

The earthquake of 1778 leveled the city of Kashan and all the edifices of Shah Abbas Safavi, leaving 8000 casualties. But the city started afresh however, and has today become a focal tourist attrcation via the numerous large houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrating the finest examples of Qajari aesthetics.

Kashan today

Although extremely wealthy in terms of tourism potentials, the city remains largely undeveloped in this sector.

Nevertheless Kashan is internationally famous for manufacturing carpets, silk and other textiles. Kashan today houses most of Iran's mechanized carpet-weaving factories, and has an active marble and copper mining industry.

Kashan's major universities are:

• 1. Kashan University of Medical Sciences
  2. University of Kashan

Kashan has an airport and is connected via freeways to Isfahan, Natanz, and Qom, only over an hour's drive away to the north. Kashan has a population of 400,000.

Kashan's architectural heritage

Among Kashan's architectural masterpieces are:

1. Agha Bozorg Mosque (late 1700s). This mosque and theological school is located in the center of Kashan. The mosque consists of two large "eivan"s, one in front of the "mihrab" and the other by the entrance. The courtyard has a second court in the middle which comprised of a garden with trees and a fountain. Surrounding the courtyard are arcades. The eivan in front of mehrab has two minarets with a brick dome. The colors of arcades and eivan are restricted to blue, red, or yellow against a brick ground. It was here where Ostad Ali Maryam as a pupil started his career as a brilliant architect.
2. Boroujerdi Residence (1857). This house was built in 1857 for the bride of Haji Mehdi Borujerdui, a wealthy merchant. It consists of a beautiful courtyard, delightful wall paintings by the royal painter Kamal-ol-molk, and 40 meter tall wind towers which help cool the house to unusual temperatures. It took 18 years to build using 150 craftsmen. A true masterpiece of Persian architecture. Designed by Ostad Ali Maryam.
3. Tabatabaie Residence (1840s). This house was built in the early 19th century and consists of multiple beautiful courtyards with elegant stained glass windows. The house belonged to a wealthy rug merchant, the father in law, in fact, of Haji Borujerdi.
4. Ameri-Ha (Amerian) House
5. Abbasian House
6. Sharifian House
7. Al-e-Yaseen House
8. Sultan Amir Shrine
9. Sultan Amir Bath
10. 40 Dokhtaran Fortress
11. Abu Lu Lu Shrine (the assassin of Islam's second Caliph)
12. Fin Garden
13. Sialk Ziggurat
14. Ghal'eh jalali
15. Kashan Bazaar
16. Timcheh Amin-o-dowleh (seen in sketch on this page)

See also

• Iranian Architecture
• Sialk – Kashan's ancient architecture.