Chehel Sotoun ( fa, چهل ستون, literally: “Forty Columns”) is a

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n pavilion in the middle of a park at the far end of a long pool, in Isfahan,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, built by Shah Abbas II to be used for his entertainment and receptions. In this palace, Shah Abbas II and his successors would receive dignitaries and ambassadors, either on the terrace or in one of the stately reception halls. The name, meaning "Forty Columns" in Persian, was inspired by the twenty slender wooden columns supporting the entrance pavilion, which, when reflected in the waters of the fountain, is said to appear to be forty. As with Ali Qapu, the palace contains many frescoes and paintings on ceramic. Many of the ceramic panels have been dispersed and are now in the possession of major museums in the west. They depict specific historical scenes such as the infamous

Battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and ...

against the Ottoman Sultan

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

, the reception of an Uzbek King in 1646, when the palace had just been completed; the welcome extended to the Mughal Emperor,

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

who took refuge in Iran in 1544; the battle of Taher-Abad in 1510 where the Safavid Shah

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

vanquished and killed the Uzbek King. A more recent painting depicts Nader Shah's victory against the Indian Army at

Karnal Karnal ( is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. It was used by East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal between ...

in 1739. There are also less historical, but even more aesthetic compositions in the traditional miniature style which celebrate the joy of life and love. The Chehel Sotoun Palace is among the 9 Iranian Gardens which are collectively registered as one of the Iran’s 23 registered World Heritage Sites under the name of the Persian Garden."Otraq.com, Iran's Tourism Guide"

Architecture

The

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

of this palace is a combination of ''Chinese, Iranian and French''

. The building consists of a main (large) porch with 38 meters long, 17 meters wide and 14 meters high, which made it face East. The columns of this octagonal porch are from sycamore and pine wood. And the middle four pillars are located on four stone valves. Chehel Sotoun's famous pool is in front of the palace which in addition to being beautiful, makes the air soft. On the four sides of the pool there are statues that do not belong to the Chehel Sotoun Mansion. After destruction of the covered palace they moved these statues to the pool of Chehel Sotoun. According to some historians, this mansion suffered a terrible fire in the late Safavid period and parts of it burned. The porch of Chehel Sotoun consists of two parts. One section is based on an 18 tall wooden pillars; and the other part, which is a little higher, forms the entrance of the hall and in some sources they called it "The mirror hall". In general, in the historic Chehel Sotoun Mansion, the combined designs of the walls and ceiling of the hall, which are placed in beautiful forms of Lachak Toranj (corner and medallion), and the main lines of the building divisions, which are a beautiful combination of ''painting, tiling'' and ''other various decorations'', make this work one of the best examples of Persian architecture during the Safavid era. At present, the mansion operates as a museum; and it's central hall displays some works of art from different periods of

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File:Ceiling of Chehel Sotoun.jpg,

Muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...

of Chehel Sotoun File:Chehel Sotoun photo3.jpg, Shah Tahmasp I File:Chehel Sotoun 2.JPG, Day view of the palace File:Chehel Sotoun 01.jpg, Rear view of the palace File:Chehelsotun2.JPG, Closer view of the palace File:Chehel Sotoun 03.jpg, A sculpture in the garden File:Iran Isfahan Chehel Sotoon Palace 12.jpg, Golden

muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...

vaulting File:Chehel Sotoun Inside, Isfahan Edit1.jpg, Inside the museum File:Chehelsotun4.JPG, The Qur'an in

kufic script Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

File:Fresco chehel sotoun 27.jpg, Fresco inside the palace File:Garden and pavilion Chehel Sotoun,facade by Pascal Coste.jpg, 1840, by Pascal Coste File:Fresque chehel sotoun esfahan.jpg, Fresco inside the palace File:Battle of Chaldiran (1514).jpg, Artwork of the

File:Chehel Sotoun ceiling.jpg, Ceiling of Chehel Sotoun's mirror hall that contains Āina-kāri art File:Painting in Chehel Sotoun2.jpg, Paintings

Notes

Bibliography

* M. Ferrante: ‘Čihil Sutūn: Etudes, relevés, restauration’, Travaux de restauration de monuments historiques en Iran, ed. G. Zander (Rome, 1968), pp. 293–322 * E. Grube: ‘Wall Paintings in the Seventeenth Century Monuments of Isfahan’, Studies on Isfahan, ed. R. Holod, 2 vols, Iran. Stud., vii (1974), pp. 511–42 * S. Babaie: ‘Shah ‛Abbas II, the Conquest of Qandahar, the Chihil Sutun, and its Wall Paintings’, Muqarnas, xi (1994), pp. 125–42

External links

*
More Pictures, Tishineh

"About Chehel Sotoun" Irpersiatour
{{Authority control Palaces in Iran Persian gardens in Iran Buildings and structures in Isfahan Safavid architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1646 Persian words and phrases Tourist attractions in Isfahan World Heritage Sites in Iran Safavid court National works of Iran