This palace was built in the early 11th century AH in the center of a garden. The Chehel-Sotoun palace was built with the goal of official welcoming for foreign guests and ambassadors, in three stages on the basis of an innovative design.
The first stage is the building of the main hall and the second stage is the construction of the porch, and finally the third stage is the construction of eighteen pillars and a roof of wood. The number of columns in Chehel-Sotoun palace is twenty. The image of these twenty columns is mirrored in pool and made forty columns. In Iranian architecture the number of forty is a symbol af greatness. Kinapour boutique hotel in Isfahan in located near this palace with only 2.3 kilometers distance. There are public transportations such as bus, taxi, subway and so on if you are not in the mood of walking.
Wall paintings on forty columns have been performed by renowned artists in the Safavi era such as Reza Abbasi, a great iconoclast in the style of Iranian miniaturists. Four large panels inside the hall depict the designs of the battlefields and the reception chambers of the Safavi kings. Two large panels in the middle of the next works have themes in the same direction drawn by Sadegh Khan, who was born in Qajar-era. Many of the paintings in the Safavi era were destroyed during the reign of the last Sultan. The beautiful poetry of Najib Kashani, written by Professor Mohammad Saleh Esfahani on the columned porch, shows that the magnificent Chehel-Sotoun palace was burnt down in the early twelfth century and repaired during the reign of King Sultan Hussein.
The paintings in the central hall of the palace, some of which were painted in the Qajar era, describe King Abbas I and II, and Shahmassab, of the Turkana and Indian empire, as well as King Ismail I of Uzbekistan. The other two imagesare like this; one is facing the entrance to the hall and the other is facing the exit, depict the Chaldaran war under King Ishmael I and the rare war of King Afshar.
These two paintings were painted in the early Qajar era. On either side of the pillared hall are rooms that are currently used for seasonal exhibitions. These rooms also decorated by paintings, some of which are indisputable masterpieces of painting. Most of these paintings were concealed under a plaster during the reign of the Shah Abbas.
On the four sides of the pool are sculptures that do not belong to the Chehel-Sotoun palace and were moved to the site when the indoor palace was destroyed. According to some historians, the building suffered a devastating fire at the end of the Safavi era and. Many historical hotels in Iran painted this palace on their walls.
On either side of the central hall of the Chehel-Sotoun building are pictures of ambassadors and Europeans living in Isfahan at that time. The paintings were painted by two Dutch painters called Anjel and Lokar. The gilded decorations of the Kingdom Hall and the side rooms of the Hall of Mirrors and the large Kingdom Hall paintings depicting the Safavi kings.
The combined walls and ceiling of the hall are beautifully lacquered and bold, and the main dividing lines that combine beautiful painting, tiling and other numerous and varied decorations exemplify this magnificent exterior. At present, the Chehel-Sotoun palace is being visited by foreign tourists and Iranian guests as a traditional monument with its central hall displaying some of Iran's various artworks.
Sculptures and spectacular parts of the palace
Hall 2 Column
Mirror Hall
Central Quadrangle Lions
Gilded gold ornaments and paintings of the Kingdom Hall
Picture of King Abbas I with a special crown
Magnificent Hall of Fame, twenty Painted Columns and Mirror Ceiling of Mirror Hall and the Entrance
Huge columns and mirror halls
The four-cornered stone lions in the central hall and the marble basins around it represent the Safavi carving industry.
There is an image of King Abbas I with a special crown and other miniatures in the Chehel-Sotoun Palace's Treasure Room.
The lions and stone sculptures around the pond and inside the gardens are the only remaining artifacts left from the two other magnificent Safavi palaces, the mirror and the indoor mansion used to hold religious ceremonies.