Eram Garden
Located along the northern shore of Khoshk River, Eram Garden as one of the oldest and most beautiful gardens of the southern city of Shiraz is a striking tourist destination for visitors especially during the spring and summer with a variety of beautiful flowers, refreshing air, aromatic myrtles and towering cypress trees including a stately cypress tree dating back to 3,000 years (Sarv-e naz) as well as a historic mansion overlooking the garden.
The word ‘Eram’ is the Persian version of Arabic word ‘Iram’ meaning heaven in the holy book of Qur’an. With no exact date of the construction, the garden is most likely to have been built during the Seljuk Dynasty on the orders of the celebrated Seljuk monarch Sanjar and then it was restored and repaired by the Zand kings (1750-1794) but during later periods, the garden was handed to a Qashqaei tribal chief, Mohammad Qoli Khan who ordered to build the original mansion in the early 18th century and planted various trees in the garden, including pine, orange, cypress and persimmon trees.
Later, during the rule of Nassereddin Shah of Qajar Dynasty (1785-1925), the garden was bought from the Qashqaei tribe and the present pavilion was built that regarding architecture, painting, tilework, and plasterwork, it is one of the Qajari architectural masterpieces, including a beautiful three-story structure with abundant ornamentations based on Safavid and Qajar architectural styles and tiles inscribed with the poems of the noted Persian poet Hafez.
The lower story of the mansion has an impluvium especially designed for relaxation during the hot days of summer with a beautifully adorned ceiling and colorful tiles. Also, a small stream passes through it, connecting to a large front-side pool with a nice fountain which reflects the image of the building, providing a wonderful view.
The middle storey includes a large veranda, two high stone pillars decorated with plaster work and a magnificent hall in the back. On the two sides of the hall, there are two corridors each having four rooms and two small terraces. Surrounded by two corridors leading to two terraces, the upper story consists of a large hall with wooden pillars and fine paintings whose windows open to the main veranda. Also, on the top front side of the mansion, there are five eye-catching small and big arches adorned with colorful tiles showing the images of horsemen and flowers.
Today, the structural style of Eram Garden has been registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and it is within Botanical Garden of Shiraz University and open to the public as a historic and splendid garden museum which is protected by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists annually to have relaxing and memorable moments by walking and spending some time in this true example of Shiraz famous natural scenery.
