Gardens of Renaissance Europe and the Islamic Empires by Gharipour Mohammad

Author:Gharipour, Mohammad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

The Gardens of Safavid Isfahan and Renaissance Italy

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A New Urban Landscape?

MOHAMMAD GHARIPOUR

In 1598, Shah ʿAbbas I (1571–1629), the most powerful of the Safavid monarchs in Persia (Iran), moved his seat from Qazvin to Isfahan. He did this in order to create a safe haven for the Safavid Empire after periods of instability and frequent wars with the Ottomans in the west and Uzbeks in the east. He selected Isfahan because of its strategic, climatic, and natural advantages, as well as its rich cultural heritage.1 Shah ʿAbbas brought intellectuals and artisans from other areas of his empire to convert Isfahan into an international center for science, trade, art, and architecture. Safavid planners reorganized the plan of Isfahan to create a modern city (fig. 6.1),2 and over the course of about three decades Isfahan became one of the largest and most prosperous cities of the world in the seventeenth century, as witnessed by European travelers. This new master plan was based on a decrease in the building density (as one moved away from the medieval center) and the laying out of extensive gardens both inside and outside the city. Isfahan, also called “Half of the World,” included a new city center, a grand bazaar, new residential quarters with their local bazaars, and a famous urban axis called Chaharbagh Street, along which several gardens (including pavilions) were located.3 This capital city, with its palaces, bazaars, and gardens, was widely visited by European, especially Italian, travelers and political envoys (such as the Shirley brothers),4 who left detailed accounts.

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