🌺Isfahan · Royal Reception Hall · Chehel Sotun Palace 🖼️
Persian: چهل ستون (meaning "Forty Columns") Affiliation: Persian Civilization · Safavid Dynasty 🏛️ Period: 1647–Present ⏳ ● The Chehel Sotun Palace is located at the end of a long, narrow pool in the center of a vast 67,000-square-meter garden. Built by Shah Abbas II of the Safavid Dynasty, it was specifically designed for receiving and entertaining foreign guests. 🏰✨ ● In front of the palace is a grand portico supported by 20 towering wooden columns made of cypress. 🌳 Ahead of the portico lies a 110-meter-long and 16-meter-wide pool, with water spouting from the mouths of four lions placed at its base. 🦁💦 The pool's water is crystal clear, shimmering with ripples. The wooden columns are reflected in the water, creating the illusion of another 20 columns. This unique scene inspired the palace's name, "Forty Columns." 🌊🌿 ● The interior walls and ceilings are adorned with mirrors, stained glass, and murals. Some depict historical battles between Persians and Uzbeks, Mughals, and Turks, ⚔️ while others show grand receptions of foreign envoys by the king. 👑🤝 There are also scenes of social gatherings with men and women dancing, 💃🕺 as well as decorative patterns of animals 🐘🌺 and plants. Most murals are finely detailed, with clear and delicate lines. 🎨🖼️ ● This style of palace, featuring exterior columns and interior murals, dates back to the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC. In the ancient capital of Persepolis, there were palaces like the "Seventy-Two Column Hall" for receiving guests and the "Hundred-Column Hall" for grand ceremonies. 🏛️ However, those columns were made of solid stone, unlike the Chehel Sotun Palace, where half are wooden and the other half are illusory reflections in the water. 🌊✨ This interplay of reality and illusion, between the earthly and the aquatic, sparks endless imagination. 🌍✨ ● In 2011, UNESCO inscribed the Chehel Sotun Palace, along with eight other Persian gardens, as a World Heritage Site under the "Persian Gardens" designation. 🏆🌿 #MobilePhotography 📱 #Iran 🇮🇷 #Royalty 👑 #SafavidDynasty 🏛️ #CulturalSites 🕌 #GlobalTravel 🌍 #Travel ✈️ #HiddenTravelGems 🌟 #Photography 📸 #Aesthetics 🎨
