2011

Turkey  Tunisia  Algeria  Iran  Transnistria

The city of Esfahan is a true gem, and it has been a thorough delight to be able to spend all day today exploring and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere and architecture of this very special place.

All today’s explorations were done on foot, an advantage of having a hotel that is located close to the city centre.   Escorted by Akba, we walked from the hotel, first to the north, then to the east past a beautiful, shady garden, and then to the south past the Natural History Museum to arrive at the Chehel Sotun Palace.  Built in the early 1600s, and re-built after being destroyed by a fire in 1706, “Chehel Sotun” means ‘40 pillars’.  The building itself has 20 pillars, and the name comes from the number of pillars visible with the addition of those seen in the long reflective pond that forms the central focus of the palace’s front courtyard.

Pleasant though the exterior was, the real highlight was the interior of The Great Hall (Throne Hall), which contained a spectacular collection of huge frescoes, miniatures and ceramics. The upper walls were dominated by brightly coloured historical frescoes on a grand scale, often showing court life and some of the great battles of the Safavid era.  As was explained to us pointedly, all the women in the old paintings were dressed in brightly coloured dresses, and both men and women were drinking wine in liberal quantities, and doing so together.  These were, we were told, important components of traditional Iranian life that are presently being denied to the population.

It was just a short walk from the Chehel Sotun Palace to Esfahan’s true gem, the Imam Square, or as it is more commonly referred to by local people, the Naqsh-e Jahan Square (“Naqsh-e Jahan “ meaning ‘pattern of the world’).  It is the second largest square in the world (after Tian An Men Square in Beijing), being 512 metres long and 163 metres wide, and a real jewel of Islamic architecture.

We spent quite a while walking around the Square, just taking in its magical atmosphere.  While I was doing so, a khaki-uniformed officer from the Tourism Police cycled up and began interrogating me.

“Excuse me, where are from?”

“Australia”

“Are you enjoying Iran?”

“Yes, very much, thank you.”

“That’s good.  If we can be of any help, please approach us.”

Okay, it wasn’t the most gripping interrogation by movie standards, but I did feel that I was able to handle the line of questioning quite competently.

Having done a circuit of the fountain in the middle of the Square (note for extreme trivia buffs - Tim clockwise, me anti-clockwise), we proceeded to the southern end of the square and met Akba at the entrance to the magnificent Imam Mosque (formerly known as the Shah Mosque).  Built between 1611 and 1629, the blue-tiled facade of the mosque was sensational - perfectly proportioned, intricately decorated, and huge!  In an interesting twist, the facade faced Imam Square, but to enable the main sanctuary of the mosque to fulfil its requirement to face towards Mecca, the entrance passage forms an unusual angular approach.  Visiting the mosque was an awesome experience, and one that unfortunately is almost impossible to share in photos because of the sheer scale of the building and the intricate, subtle use of light, shadows and sound.

Still in a state of awe following our visit to the Imam Mosque, we walked through the covered bazaars that surround Imam Square to the eastern side of the Square until we reached the second superb mosque, known as the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque.  Much smaller in scale than the huge Imam Mosque, the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque was built between 1602 and 1619, and is known for its fabulous interior ceramic mosaics that adorn the walls and ceiling.  Intricate in detail with vibrant blue, turquoise and cream tiles, the interior was another example of ‘it has to be seen in reality to be believed’.  I have tried to share something of these two mosques in some of today’s photos, but no photo can do justice to the magnificence of these two fabulous mosques.

It was approaching midday by this time, when all the public buildings around the Square close for an afternoon siesta, so we hurried across to the western side of the Square to take in one more building - also magnificent - the Ali Qapu Palace.    The name ‘Ali Qapu’ means the ‘Gate of Ali’, and it was so named because it was the gateway to the main palace behind.

The highlight of the palace was probably the elevated terrace which gave us a wonderful perspective over the Square, with excellent views of the Imam and Sheikh Lotfollah Mosques.  It was a long climb up some very steep steps, but the pain of the climb was quickly forgotten as soon as we saw the panorama before us.  The memory of the agony quickly returned, however, as we climbed further up into the castle to the sixth floor where a remarkable music room was located. In order to improve the acoustics, the stucco ceiling and walls were riddled with the hollow shapes of vases and other household utensils, creating a visual as well as an acoustic masterpiece.

Akba had duly completed his obligations for the day with us, so we parted ways, did a little shopping and returned to the hotel for a light lunch and siesta.  Our time for the afternoon was our own to do with as we chose.  I was interested to see the interior of the Imam Khomeini Gallery that I had seen near the Khajoo Bridge yesterday afternoon because we had not really had the opportunity to learn about Iran’s Islamic Government from a pro-government perspective during our week in Iran.  I was therefore keen to see how the memory of Khomeini was handled, and perhaps even find some interesting literature.  Tim, on the other hand, was more interested in walking through the leafy, shady streets of central Esfahan and do some people-watching.

It had been clear that morning that Akba had really not wanted me to visit the Imam Khomeini Gallery, saying that although he had never been there, he knew it would have no interest for me.  That was the reason he gave for refusing even to help me find out its opening hours - he said if I wanted to see a gallery, he could recommend and take me instead to an art gallery with a fine display of contemporary and traditional Persian paintings, as well as miniature jewelry boxes.  When I insisted that my preference was to try and learn something about Iran’s contemporary political structure by visiting the Khomeini gallery, Akba pointedly asked me whether I would prefer to go there by taxi or by walking.

And so it was that I set out on the four kilometre walk from the hotel across the Kajoo Bridge to the Imam Khomeini Gallery.  I arrived at about 3:45 pm to find it closed, so I decided to wait until a little after 4 pm to see if it opened at the end of siesta.  Unfortunately it didn’t, so at about 4:10 pm I began the 4 kilometre long walk back to the hotel, getting back at about 4:50 pm.  It was a somewhat prolonged, hot walk for someone who had been on crutches just a few months earlier, and just as sadly, I suspect I will be leaving Iran without ever having had the chance to hear the government’s official line on its legitimacy and policies.

By the time I retuned, Tim had also returned from his much shorter walk, so after a short rest, we headed off again to Imam Square to enjoy the later afternoon sunlight.  We had heard that many local people came to relax in Imam Square in the late afternoon, and this was certainly true.  Hundreds of local people were relaxing having picnics, paddling in the fountain, walking around or just sitting and talking.  It was a lovely, relaxing experience to join in with the informal atmosphere of the Square as sunset quickly approached.

Day 23 - Esfahan, Iran

Tuesday

5 July 2011

Today’s Bonus Images