Recognize of the Form and Spatial Structure of Safavid Historic Gardens. Case Study: Bagh-i Shah of Ashraf al-Belad City (Behshahr's old name), North of Iran

Abstract

In Safavid period, some royal gardens have been created in Ashraf Al-Belad, a city that was established in place of an old residential village, in north of Iran which remained some traces of them at present time. One of these gardens is Bagh-i Shah that was built by Shah Abbas Safavi as Divan-Khaneh, a place for visiting ambassadors, contemporary with Ashraf Al-belad's foundation. This historic garden changed so much in its long life such extensively that it seems a modern park more than a Persian garden today. Nonetheless, its geometric order, aged trees array and water circulation system etc, which remained until now, remind a general image of Persian garden. While, conservation and urban planning without respect to original construction of this garden could make incorrect perception from its true aspect. On the other hand, inattentiveness to such noteworthy historic gardens and converting their feature like a modern park result in irreparable damage and elimination vestiges of its genuine face as a document of historic background of the city. Therefore, Bagh-i shah as an important sample of Safavid gardening tradition and also as one of the characteristic elements of the city, is an essential subject. Thought major parts of the garden have been changed, it assumes possible to recognize its main form and structure based on remained documents and literatures. This paper tries to identify the original features of this garden and its evolution over the time according to field researches and historical documents.