A Best Walking from the Image of the World in the Frame of Naqsh-e-Jahan

Brewing ideas to move the capital of the Safavid dynasty from Qazvin to Isfahan, being geographically, climatically, politically and strategically more suited to the aims of the kingdom, Shah Abbas the Great ordered the construction of new monuments and sites in Isfahan from 1592 to 1598. One of the earliest constructions, symbolically representing the dynasty and its religious, economic and political pillars, was Meydan-e Naqsh-e Jahan (Naqsh-e Jahan Square).

    To fully experience the beauty and grandeur of the world's second largest square, Meydan-e Naqsh-e Jahan, it would be a good idea to start your tour in the morning. However, if you want to see more of local people shopping or cooling down the rhythm of their lives in the legendary space of the square, haunted by ghosts of kings, guards, merchants and customers of the Safavid era, visit the square at night which is as delightful and mysterious as days. Electric-lamps, running along and intermingling with the square, illuminate the darkness of its nights, playing with the memory of Shah Abbas the Great and his passion for color, light and the 50,000 oil-lamps he set up in the square, creating one of the most beautiful sceneries during the night in the old world of his time. 

Shah Abbas ordered to build this square on the remnants of Naqsh e-Jahan, a grand garden from the Timurid period. The final work turned into something so splendid that the European travelers of the time compared it to Navona in Rome and Saint Marco in Venice and considered it more fine-looking than them. Plane trees and small streams (Madi), going round the square and then pouring into the pools in front of the Jame Abbasi Mosque and Qeysarieh, decorated the square. During the weekdays, the square was a place of business and trade in the morning and a place of entertainment in the evening. Also, the big square, measuring 525m*159m, was used for playing Polo, the favorite game of Shah Abbas. The evidence to this fact is the gates on the northern and southern sides of the square. 

However, Zel al-Sultan, the Qajarid prince and governor of Isfahan, brought nothing but devastation to this square. In spite of his minor renovations, the old, tall plane trees, spreading their humble shadow on the square for centuries, were cut down to be used as parts of military cannons. Furthermore, the chambers around the square, once housing prosperous trades, were used to lodge soldiers. Later, during the reign of Pahlavi I, the urban space surrounding the square, such as Darvaze Dolat square, Sepah street and Hafez street, were developed and expanded. Then, a pool, measuring 30 *80, was built in the middle of the square. Flowerbeds were added to the square between the years 1933-1934 and it was lit by electric lamps in 1935. More than 100 shops underwent major renovations in 1938 and they were allocated to presenting handicrafts of Isfahan. According to Reza Shah’s reformations in the administrative system of the country, several official buildings, such as the two banks on the right and left sides of Qeysarieh gateway, were established. The external part of the northern side of the square mainly dates back to the Pahlavi I era.

After all these ups and downs, this pleasing vastness embraces you with its delicate decorations rather than frightening you with its extreme proportions. However, the spirit of the square is embodied in the magnificent monuments covering the square, pulling you to themselves to spend a little time on their beauty.