persian_myth

12:25 am: Spring Bloom at Flower's Garden
These have been taken last week. It has got pretty hot now, I wonder how many of them would stand the current heat. Luckily, they now can live forever, captured in digital frames of my journal.



( More under the cut )

Tags: flowers, pix, spring

02:33 pm: The Vank (The All saviour) Church


At the beginning of the reign of Shah Abbas I in 1588, Persia had almost fallen apart. Uzbeks and Afghans had moved into the North-Eastern lands and Ottomans were attacking the North-West, invading parts of Azerbaijan. It took Shah Abbas 14 years to build an outstanding army to conquer both enemies and take back what was lost of the Persian soil. After his victory, he moved his capital from Qazvin to Esfahan and brought with himself thousands of Christian Armenians from the old Julfa in Azerbaijan.



Esfahan was a known city on the silk road and he was hoping that the new Christian population in Esfahan, with their influential merchants make the Persian ties with Spain and other Western countries stronger, so a monopoly in the silk trade could be achieved and the Persian silk and rugs could be exported through other routes than Turkey. Moreover, the Armenians were excellent craftsmen and they could contribute to the industrial achievements and wellbeing of Esfahan. As another motif, he hoped that this would be a great example of tolerance and understanding among diverse ethnic and religious groups in the region and would encourage the foreign merchants to pass through Iran with peace of mind. Therefore he gave the Southern part of the river to the immigrants so that they could build their parishes and houses upon it, and gave them great freedom, enough finances and equal rights, something extraordinary for that era among lands ruled by Muslims. Immigrants called the new founded quarter of Esfahan the New Julfa and started building churches among other things. Shah Abbass's plan paid off. Esfahan entered its golden era of all time and merchants flooded the city, the showcase of the civilization of the Safavid era.

( The Vank Church )

12:09 pm: Ali-Qapoo Edifice

 

Built merely as a portal in 15th century, it was developed over many stages, mainly in early 17th century to a palace. Ali Qapoo (meaning "exalted portal") is also the gateway to the other royal establishments of that era, namely Chehelsotoon and Hasht-behesht Palaces. This building is six story, shy of 157½ feet tall, and has a terrace with a view over Naghseh-Jahan square, supported by 18 wooden columns. This building has endured more damages through time than any other monuments of her vicinity and age, and most of her valuable doors and windows have been stolen during wars.
( Take a tour...  )

07:58 am: Sio-Se-Pol and Chahar-Bagh

 

Let's take a detour from the monuments in Naghshe-Jahan, to two of the most
famous and iconic features of Esfahan.



Here is a picture of Chahar-Bagh, built in 1596, still carrying the main traffic
of North-South:

 

East and West band each have three lanes. The middle band and
sidewalks are saved for the pedestrians. There are four rows of hedges and trees
separating each band, hence the name "Chahar-bagh" or "Four Gardens".





And here are some pictures of Sio-Se-Pol (33 Pol or 33 Arches), built in early
17th century by the order of Shah Abbas I. There are 33 Arches in the
foundation, hence the name 33 Arches. On each side, in the middle of the Alcoves
there is a walkway separated from the middle of the bridge. It has been over 20
years that cars are not allowed over the bridge, but I remember traveling over
it in our car when I was very young.

 

Eastern view at sunset

( More pictures of this bridge... )

11:25 am: Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque

Eastern View by Pool at Sunset

 

Esfahan is also famous as "The City of Blue Tiles", but this mosque has broken the mold. Tiles of its khaki dome is one of a kind, making her to stand out among all other monuments. This mosque has been built in early 1600 by the order of Shah Abbas (I), and has been named after a religious figure form today's Lebanon, who has been a guest in Shah Abbas's court at that time. This mosque has been build mainly for women who wanted to have a separate place for worship, especially the women of the royal family.

( More pictures under the cut )

10:30 am: Happy 2007!


Today 2006 joined the history. To me, this is only a change in the last digit of a four digit number, since New Year will always be the time when trees wear their new dresses, birds fall in love and flowers blossom, even if I'm in the Southern hemisphere.

However, another milestone has been reached and an evaluation is in order for those who still remember most of what happened in the last year, unlike me, whose short term memory has been stumbling lately.

( Load of something under the cut )

02:58 pm: Naghshe Jahan Square

Southern View

 

This square is from the period of Shah Abbas The Great (I), around 400 years
old. Its length is 500m. (1640.4ft) from North to South,
and has a width of approximately 165m (541.3ft), making it
roughly over 20 acres, surrounded by two story Arcades and historical buildings. 
To the North of the square, you'll find the Qaysarieh Portal. To the South there
is Shah/Emam Mosque. On East side you'll find Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque,
and located to the West is Ali Qapoo Edifice, the palace and the gateway
to the other royal establishments of that era. During the reign of Shah Abbas I
and his successors, this square was an area where festivities, polo, dramatics
and military parades took place. This square is listed by UNESCO's World
Heritage center as "Meidan Emam".

 

( Illustration of the World )

12:13 pm: Chehelsotoon Palace

As I mentioned in my earlier entry, I finally visited this beautiful Palace with my camera the previous Thursday. It is located in Esfahan, and I work only 15 minutes away from this beauty.

( Read more... )

02:15 pm: A Long Walk with an Stranger


It has been a cloudy/rainy/snowy week. The heavy rain followed by snow last Thursday ruined my plans to go for a major photo shooting. So seeing a half cloudy sky Thursday 12-14-06, I decided that I'm going to take some pictures no matter what comes my way. It was a horribly cold day, even with sun playfully beaming from wherever clouds hadn't managed to cover.

So I spent the morning at Chehelsoton Palace and took about 247 pictures. I wasn't feeling hungry at all, so I thought I'll take some pictures of a beautiful mosque, which has dazzling tiles and architecture and then I get something to eat. By the time I took my last picture, I noticed a tall handsome guy reading his tourist guide and looking around, smiling at people, so when he was about to leave, much to my surprise, I did something I've always thought to be stupid. I asked him "Where are you from sir?", to which he answered: "Hi, I'm from the US." and I was like "You've got to be kidding me!" To answer my amazement as how he had managed to get a visa, he said since his father was German, he was able to get a German passport and get to come here.

I didn't feel much hungry then, so we started walking through two other sights he had not seen in the vicinity of that Mosque. He said he was from San Francisco, and that's all I asked him. I didn't get his name, nor did I ask him what he did, although he asked me about that. We went on to go to an Internet cafe, so that I can burn whatever photo I'd got since that morning and give it to him. Then I decided that I'll go on to follow him to see the two old bridges as well. We just talked about where he should see, politics of the region, women, election day, religion and many other things. And at around 5 O'clock, I got him a cab so he can go to terminal and get a ticket for tomorrow, so he can leave Esfahan for Yazd. I felt a little bad to leave him on his own, but then I was way too hungry and cold. I hope my tall handsome stranger have a wonderful time in Iran and a safe trip back home. I kind of wish I get to see him again. Although he was a total stranger, I felt like I've known him for a long time...

05:22 am: Not enough to make a snowman


Yesterday it snowed; too bad I had a ton of works and a deadline to meet and couldn't have some fun out in the snow, and today it's brutally cold.

We almost skipped autumn this year; it was like a transition from late September to mid December overnight. There were half green leaves mixed with the ice patches of the yesterday's snow all over the sidewalks. This scene made me a little sad, because it is kind of like witnessing a funeral. It was really cold before and I've no idea why trees and flowers were so fresh and alive in this weather, but this snow took care of them for sure. I hardly remember having seen trees still bearing any leave past September. Last year, half way through summer, they dried up and gradually fell. By October trees were left naked.

I finally got a new tripod for my camera and I'm very excited about this because the last time I went to take some pictures of paintings in some landmarks of my hometown, where flashes are not allowed, half of them were ruined. I had no idea that I'm not capable of holding a camera still for a few seconds. Now after having used this great tripod with the ability to rotate in all directions, I've no idea how I was taking pictures before. Anyway, I'm so exited about this weekend. Some major photo shooting is on the way and I hardly can wait.





But for now, I just want to keep these two pictures of the miniature paintings in my journal. I'm thinking of making a webpage somewhere with all the photos I've taken and I'll be taking of landmarks, plus some random miniature paintings. I'm not sure if this is a passing fashion or a lasting passion. But it sure has sparkled a bit of excitement in my boring everyday life.