Isfahan's Hasht-Behest palace was completed on the third year of King Suleiman's reign. It is an example of the finest living palaces in the Safavi era. Mirza Mohammad Taher Nasrabadi, the owner of the Nasrabadi Tablet,
has revived the name of more than a thousand Safavi poets in his own writnings and he has also been writing poetry. He has written poems about the construction of the royal palace of Isfahan, most of which is dates back to the construction of this royal palace.
Architectural features of the Hasht-Behest palace’s building
It has 2 meters long and 1.5 meters wide and also it is two meters taller than the adjacent surface of the garden. The building is surrounded by two 4-stairs stairs that are connected to the eastern and western sides of the palace. Then there is a veranda with two tall wooden columns that connect the entrances to the central hall.
The arch leads to a dome-shaped skylight with eight wooden windows, in the middle of an octagonal courtyard with a diameter of 1.5 m. this palace also has a fountain, the doors around the porch lead to the octagonal rooms which were reserved for women, the main porch is on the north of the palace, and the octagonal has two long columns of cedar wood, with a half-length basin in the middle.
The outside of the mansion is covered with hard rocks on the outside and in the middle of the pavement there is a small embankment that flows over the ponds inside and outside of the mansion. Decoration of the palace grounds designed with tall enclosures and flower gardens. Rose and Jasmine, the north street of the palace belongs to the Fort Cheetah Palace and the western street connects to the Chahar Bagh Street with a large entrance. Other palace lines lead to fruit gardens. This palace was a luxury hotel in Isfahan at safavi era.
Hasht-Behest garden
The garden and palace of Hasht-Behest was gifted to Lady Azimi Iftikhar al-Dawlah by Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar in condition that it won’t change its status and maintain its privacy on Chahar Bagh Street in complete order. After the death of the Lady of the Garden, it remained in possession of his inheritance, but during this period the overall changes in the arrangement of the Garden and the palace were established by experts. This palace is redesigned with gilded ornaments and mirrors.
On September 15, the remains of the Hasht-Behest palace were officially handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Art. The Hasht-Behest palace today, like other monuments in the country, continues to exist under the auspices of the Cultural Heritage Organization.
The Capital, Isfahan, during the Safavi era, was at its peak in those days. Instead of the historical context of Isfahan, we can see the traces of the work of the Safavi kings. Meanwhile, the palaces, gardens and mansions of Chahar Bagh were considered the center of Isfahan in Safavi era.
Geographical location
Hasht-Behest palace is located in the urban context of Isfahan on the west of Lower Chahar Bagh and South of the Honar bazzar. Hasht-Behest palace, a flat orchard, is located among other gardens such as the ditch garden in the north and northeast of fruit orchards such as Damour Gardens.
Palace building
The central part of the palace is made of four pillars and the porch faces north. The roof over this four-flat building is covered in glossy plaster.
The first-floor rooms at the four corners of the mansion have decorative plaster and paintings. On the second floor of the mansion, a series of porches, rooms, arches and windows add to its beauty. This floor is divided into numerous corridors and rooms that each have their own decorations. There are some water ponds. The walls are also covered with many mirrors.
Kianpour boutique hotel is located in chahar-baq Street which is not far from Hasht-Behest palace. Because there are only 2.4 km distance from kianpour historical residence to Hasht-Behest palace tourists can walk or choose public transportations such as taxi, subway, bus and so on.
