Palaces and gardens of Persia

Persia's idyllic palaces and gardens provide an escape from the harsh realities of desert life-creating a corner of paradise on earth. The very word "paradise" derives from the ancient Iranian term for the Shah's royal hunting grounds. From ancient Achaemenid sites to the dazzling mirrored shrines of Shiraz, and from the lush geometric gardens of Kashan to the ornate domes of Isfahan, Palaces and Gardens of Persia offers a privileged glimpse of these oases that are hidden away behind the high brick walls of palace pavilions and mosques.

Persia is a land of gardens with intricate fountains, majestic pools, shaded paths, and babbling channels of water. The region's rich history is manifest in the magnificent palaces adorned with marble and ceramics and in the intimate hammams where relaxation and calm preside today, as they have for centuries.

Palaces and Gardens of Persia reveals the fundamental roles that water, brick, and ornamentation play in Iran's unique architectural heritage. Water is the key element, offering an escape from the arid and unforgiving climate. Brick has been used as a principle building material since antiquity ; in Persia it is used to its most symbolic effect in the high walls that forge a barrier between wildness and a protected sanctuary created for man. Ornament is then the element that transforms the buildings, constructed of simple materials, into "Thousand and One Night" fantasies, from resplendent mirrored halls to geometric mosaicked paneling, and from intricate plasterwork depicting exotic birds and flowers to delicate painted murals adorning palace walls.

Yves Porter's lyrical and informed text combines with Arthur Thévenard's luminous photography to give readers a unique opportunity to discover the hidden treasures of this lost paradise.