Esfahan by Kamin Mohammadi

It was in Kathmandu that I was asked, by a retired English army major, which I thought the most beautiful, Samarkand or Esfahan. 'No contest,' I said to him, 'After all, as they say, "Esfahan is half the world".' The 16th century rhyme about the fabled Persian city may lose something in translation, but the sentiment still rings true.

The well-travelled major had not yet added Esfahan to his collection of amusing anecdotes on the most remote destinations in the world. But with Iran having shed its closed image some years back and now working hard to attract tourists, the major may find Esfahan too accessible for his taste these days.

But the sheer number of travellers, both foreign and from other parts of Iran, are testament, if any were needed, to Esfahan's enduring attraction. A quick one-hour flight from Tehran, the city is set in the centre of the country, some 1,570 metres above sea level, making the air pure and the sky so clear that you never lose sight of the violet mountains on the horizon. Esfahan is also distinguished by the presence of the Zayandeh river, responsible for a clutch of majestic bridges.

Esfahan wears her beauty like some proud personage who has found herself distinguished again after her original beauty seemed to fade. A city of wide, tree-lined avenues, handsome palaces set in splendid gardens and of course, mosques with the most intricate tilework, not to mention the colonnaded bazaar selling the country's best handicrafts, Esfahan contains so many beautiful and historic monuments that a few days is never enough.

Esfahan has benefited greatly from far-sighted town planning since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in the late 1980s. The city is beautifully maintained, the palaces floodlit at night, the trees decked with lights; Esfahan never fails to live up to its reputation as the most splendid city of Persia. For a glorious 100-year period from the 16th century, Esfahan was the capital of Iran, a period when Persian art and architecture reached the apex of its achievement. Trade with the western world was booming and Shah Abbas welcomed many foreigners to his court. Their reports back home permeated western consciousness, and Persian art and literature influenced greatly the European notion of an exotic Oriental aesthetic. To this day, what we expect of Persian art and architecture is represented by Esfahan's ebullient mosques and palaces.

But Esfahan contains treasures that pre-date its Safavid splendour. A couple of fire temples date back to Sassanian times (pre-Islam, this period spanned 3rd to 7th centuries) when the population of Iran was Zoroastrian by faith. After the arrival of Islam Iran was regularly invaded by tribes from beyond the steppe. Esfahan's first moment of glory came under some 12th century Seljuk kings it briefly became the capital. This is when the Friday Mosque (Masjed-e Jome) was first constructed, though it was added to and restored through the centuries by subsequent dynasties. The Friday Mosque is a good place to start a tour of Esfahan; though it lacks the tiled attraction of the mosques in the huge main sqaure, Maidan-e Imam, it is generally accepted to be the prototype Iranian mosque with the complex harmony of its components and austere beauty.

The largest courtyard in Iran has at its centre a fine marble pool with festooned edges, reflecting in the water every architectural age of Iran, from the stylish simplicity of the Seljuk period (1051-1220), through the Mongol period (1220-1380), the Timurid period (14th-15th century), the baroque Safavid period and even the 18th century. Parts of the mosque have been dated back to the Buyid dynasty which ruled Iran for a brief interlude in 10th century and excavations have uncovered an early mosque on the site which dates back to 8th century.

While Esfahan had been spared demolition by Genghis Khan's troops when they captured it in 1228, a darker moment came in 1338 at the time of Tamerlane's invasion. The city's inhabitants - satirised throughout Iran to this day for their supposed miserliness - rebelled rather than pay money to the conqueror, and so the entire population was massacred.

Shah Ismail (1501-1524), the first Safavid king, started building gardens and palaces in Esfahan but the capital was still in the north-west of Iran in Qazvin. The Safavid shahs made the country Shiite muslims in order to unify the empire, which, while taking advantage of a latent nationalistic feeling, brought them in direct conflict with Sunni Ottomans.

It was Shah Abbas I (1571-1629) who turned the city into what it is today. He moved his capital to Esfahan as it was strategically safer than the former capitals of Tabriz and Qazvin, which were too close to the Ottoman Empire for comfort. The centre of the city during Seljuk times was around the Friday mosque but Shah Abbas moved it, according to some in order to annoy a rich merchant who was reluctant to part with his property. He turned to the Naqsh-e Jahan (Map of the World), a palatial park designed by Shah Tahmasp (1524-1576). Between 1589 and 1606 work began on the square itself and the buildings around it, as well as on a large avenue called Chahar Bagh (Four Gardens) which was to link the square to the river. Today a large part of the gardens, pavilions, and palaces from this period have disappeared, particularly along the banks of the Zayande river.

However, much is still standing. The vast Imam Square (Maidan-e Imam, formerly Royal Square), one the largest such squares in the world, is twice as large as Moscow's Red Square. Surrounding it are some of the city's main attractions and you will find yourself coming back here again and again. In Shah Abbas' time, the square was used as a polo ground: the Shah and his court would sit on the balcony of the Ali Qapu palace and watch the match; the wooden goalposts can still be seen at either end of the square.

Around the pool stand horse-drawn carriages which can take you for a romantic ride around the square, though we once persuaded our driver to take us through the square and down the Chahar Bagh avenue to a restaurant, much to the amusement of the Esfahanis.

The Iranians are justifiably proud of this city - even if they profess to dislike the Esfahanis - and internal tourism is thriving. The main mosque on this square, the Imam Mosque, is generally accepted as being one of the most stunning buildings in the world. Construction began in 1612 and was finally completed in 1638, the culmination of a thousand years of architecture in Iran. It is covered, inside and out, by the turquoise blue tiles that have come to represent Iranian mosques. The main dome is double layered and though the 30 metre high entrance with its twin minarets faces onto the square, the mosque itself is built at an angle to face Mecca. The entrance portal is a supreme example of styles from Safavid architecture displaying sumptuous tilework, calligraphy, complex stalactite mouldings and expert use of colour and scale, dwarfing the visitor.

The mosque complex itself is lavishly decorated with tiles and has such an air of tranquility you feel you could sit in the courtyard forever, undisturbed except for the sound of tourists clapping or stamping underneath the dome, to hear the seven echoes.

The Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque which sits opposite the Ali Qapu palace is the exact opposite of the huge proportions of the Imam Mosque. This small mosque is for private meditation and was built by Shah Abbas to honour his brother-in-law. It is said that the mosque was linked to the Ali Qapu palace by an underground tunnel so the ladies of the court could come to pray in peace. The dome of this exceptional mosque is unusual in having a salmon coloured background. This colour changes with the light running the gamut from yellow to a soft pink. The intense beauty of this mosque can leave you speechless, the play of light on the glazed and unglazed tiles is stunning. The normally arch Robert Byron was moved to sincere awe in his 1930s book, The Road to Oxiana:: 'Colour and pattern are a commonplace in Persian architecture. But here they have a quality which must astonish the European' because he can previously have had no idea that abstract pattern was capable of so profound a splendour.'

The Ali Gapu palace opposite is a tall, delicate-looking structure, most distinguished by its fragile decorations (now being carefully restored) and the stalactites built into the ceiling of the top floor rooms in the shape of high-stemmed flasks and bowls: their purpose was to enhance the acoustics of these music rooms. The musicians would have perched in the deep window openings set into the walls so that their music could reverberate throughout the rooms. The palace provides wonderful views of the square to the front and pleasure gardens – which sadly no longer exist - to the back.

Lining the square is the bazaar and shops selling handicrafts. The bazaar is the most atmospheric place to shop. Divided into distinct avenues that house particular craftsmen, wandering through here, with its brick-coloured arched ceiling set with small windows, shafts of bright light puncturing the dusty interiors, is a timeless thing to do. Drift through the avenue of copper workers with their loud banging, the avenue of enamel workers peering as they paint delicate miniatures onto copper plates or vases, the gold sellers, the carpet merchants. Come ready to sit down, drink tea and haggle with merchants who have been doing business this way for centuries.

Away from the square, Esfahan has many more delights. The bridges stretching over the Zayandeh river all contain small traditional teahouses in their arches. Head to the Khaju bridge which doubles as a dam: the bottom layer controls the flow of the water while the upper terrace is set with arches on which you can still see the original paintings and tile work. In the centre a splendidly-decorated pavilion is set where Shah Abbas and his courtiers would sit and admire the views. Lounge in the traditional teahouse set in one of the lower arches, a magical place to enjoy a cup of tea, as the river flows below you.

Esfahan's palaces, such as the Chehel Sotun (The Forty Columns) and the Hasht Behsht (Eight Paradises), give an insight into the scale of life of the Shahs in the 17th century, set in their beautiful pleasure gardens, full of bubbling water and birdsong. Curiosities such as the Shaking Minarets (Menar-e Jonban), 12th century minarets which you climb inside and by leaning against, can force to sway visibly (once one minaret is swaying the other will join in) are a short taxi ride from town. Jolfa is the quarter that has houses Esfahan's Armenian population and Vank Cathedral, a curious mix of Islamic and Christian styles, and unexpected by most westerners who have no idea that Iran has a tradition of tolerance of other faiths. The museum by the cathedral contains curiosities such as a grain of rice which has the name of God written on it.

Esfahan will keep you busy. And it will keep you delighted. Robert Byron found that 'the beauty of Isfahan [sic] steals on the mind unawares'. The very air and water of the city (as the Persians say) will charm you: join the locals promenading along the river in the cool twilight of summer, drink a hot dark cup of tea in the bowels of one of the bridges, haggle over an Esfahani miniature with a laughing merchant in the bazaar, and you will find that a visit to Esfahan will enrich the soul.

I leave the last word to Robert Byron, who summed it up when he decided to 'rank Isfahan among those rarer places, like Athens or Rome, which are the common refreshment of humanity.'