Iran - Andrew Burke [43]
What Makes Persian Architecture Unique?
The defining aspects of Persian architecture are its monumental simplicity and its lavish use of surface ornamentation and colour. The ground plans of ordinary Persian buildings are usually very simple, mixing only a few standard elements: a courtyard and arcades, lofty entrance porticoes and four iwan (barrel-vaulted halls opening onto the courtyard).
The typical Persian mosque design consists of a dome above an entrance iwan that leads into a large courtyard surrounded by arched cloisters. Behind these are four inner iwan, one of them featuring a decorated niche indicating the direction of Mecca. In the Islamic world in general this is usually called a mihrab although in Iran this term is also used to refer to the cut-out space in the ground in front of it. According to many commentators, the four-iwan design can be traced back to old Zoroastrian ideas about the four elements and the circulation of life.
These basic features are often so densely covered with decoration that observers are led to imagine the architecture is far more complex than it actually is. The decorations are normally geometric, floral or calligraphic. A wall’s decoration sometimes consists of nothing but mosaics forming the names of Allah, Mohammed and Ali, repeated countless times in highly stylised script.
TILES
The tiled domes of Iranian mosques, reminiscent of Fabergé eggs in the vividness of their colouring, are likely to remain one of your abiding memories of Iran.
The art of Persian tile production dates back to the Elamite period. However, the glorious period of tile-making came during the Safavid era (1502–1736). Tiles from that period come in two main forms. The very best are moarraq kashi (mosaics) – patterns are picked out in tiny pieces of tile rather than created in one piece. Less fine are the haft rangi (seven-coloured) tiles, which are square with a painted surface and first appeared in the early 17th century; see Shah in a Hurry, Click here. Haft rangi tiles normally appear only on the inside of buildings.
By the time of the Qajars, Persian tile-making had passed its prime. But Qajar buildings often make up in quantity of colourful tiles for what they lack in quality. Examples are the courtyard walls of the Golestan Palace in Tehran and the walls of the wonderful Takieh Mo’aven ol-Molk in Kermanshah.
Pre-Islamic Architecture
The only substantial remains left from before the 7th century BC are those of the remarkable Elamite ziggurat at Choqa Zanbil. The ancient inhabitants of Persia imbued their mountains with great religious symbolism and built the characteristic pyramidal ziggurats to imitate them. The earliest builders used sun-dried mud bricks; baked brick was already being used for outer surfaces by the 12th century BC, as evidenced by the bricks at Choqa Zanbil, which look like they came out of the kiln last week.
The surviving sites from the Achaemenid era (550–330 BC) include the magnificent ceremonial palace complexes and royal tombs at Pasargadae, Naqsh-e Rostam, Persepolis and Shush. These are decorated with bas-reliefs of kings, soldiers, supplicants, animals and the winged figure of the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda.
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QUIRKS OF PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE
All along the great trade routes from east to west caravanserais (an inn or way-station for camel trains, usually consisting of rooms arranged around a courtyard) were set up to facilitate trade. Although the earliest caravanserais date to Seljuk times, many of those surviving date from the reign of Shah Abbas I who was credited with establishing a network of 999 such structures; Caravanserai Zein-o-din (Click here) is a fine restored example. In cities they were typically built right beside the bazaar to facilitate the transfer of goods from beast to shelf and back again. It’s easy to see