The Guldasta pavilion is mentioned by Iskandar Munshi as one of the private apartments (khalva khānah) built by Shah ‘Abbas among the works carried out in the year 1598 on the grounds of Bagh-i Naqsh-i Jahan. It stood on the eastern flank of Bagh-i Hasht Bihisht or Bulbul, to which it was linked by an entry pavilion. From here a water canal ran west–east, forming the main axis of the composition. Along this axis was a sixteen-sided pavilion called Guldasta, surrounded by basins and canals on an octagonal layout; a chahār ṣuffa (four loggia) pavilion called Utchi Martaba (three-floors), also surrounded by basins and canals on a rectangular layout; and a hammām on its eastern end. The plan of this garden drawn by Engelbert Kaempfer in 1684 shows the variety of shapes composing the garden plots. News regarding the use of octagonal, hexagonal, and round plots appeared already in a poem by ‘Abdi Bayk Navidi about the Sa‘adat Garden created by Shah Tahmasp in Qazvin. The Guldasta building survived until the nineteenth century when, according to Jabiri Ansari, it belonged to Amin-ul Tujjar and was built over with houses.
Sources: Travel Account, 1684, Travel Account, 1890
-Mavash Alemi
Resources:
Tārīkh-i ʻālam-i ārā-yi ʻAbbāsī (Open in Zotero)
Tarikh-i Isfahan va Ray va hamah-i jahan (Open in Zotero)
Il giardino persiano: tipi e modelli (Open in Zotero)
Safavid Royal Gardens and Their Urban Relationships (Open in Zotero)
Originally published at: Alemi, Mahvash. “Bagh-i Guldasta.” Middle East Garden Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, November 18, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue#b_start=0&c6=Safavid+Gardens. Archived at:https://perma.cc/H4VG-8VF7
