Esfahan - Paris of the East by Devanshi Mody

In Persian they say, Esfahan, Nesf-e Jahan: Esfahan is half the world. Or perhaps it’s just the Garden of Eden, for a serene garden Esfahan certainly is. From atop any minaret, view the verdant oasis of Esfahan, offset by brilliant blue skies and violet-hued mountains. Cocooned within the fruit groves, meadows, mountains and deserts which equilibrate its climate, Esfahan enjoys soft spring showers, gentle summers and benign winters. If there is paradise on earth, this is it, this is it, this is it... sang the Persian poets.

As old as Iran itself, Esfahan’s history dates back to the 5th-century BC. In 1598, the Safavids made Esfahan Iran’s capital, grooming it into one of the world’s most spectacular cities. Esfahan is elegance personified, called Paris of the East. The comparison isn’t unwarranted. Conversely, to Parisians, Persians epitomise refinement. Paris’s most exotic pastry is called Esfahan, such is Parisian fascination for Persians.

Like in Paris, Esfahan’s historic monuments fuse seemlessly with contemporary chic. Paris’s most outstanding structures are centrally focused, and this is done more intensely in Esfahan: the most glorious manifestations of Persian art and architecture court the Safavid Imam Square and its environs - making it a veritable living museum.

Seven times larger than Venice’s San Marco and smaller only than Beijing’s Tianaman Square, Imam Square is of unrivalled grandeur. Laze around the square’s sprawling lawns - once the arena for shooting, riding and polo - with its fountains, flowerbeds and quaint horse-drawn carriages, relishing saffron ice cream and Gaz (rosewater, almond, pistachio nougat, Esfahan’s speciality).

Imam’s Square’s enchanting ensemble of turquoise domes, soaring minarets, graceful arches, flowing arabesques, glowing mosaics and opalescent enamelled bricks move their beholders to fresh dimensions of delight and surprise. Architectural poetry flirts with Persian verses, with Kufic and Tulth inscriptions adorning monuments.

On the Square’s west, the lofty six-storey Ali Qapu Palace, enriched by the bewitching art of celebrated miniaturist Reza Abbasi, stands testimony to the lavish era of the Shahs. A Finnish girl enlightens us that the palace’s loveliest rooms are closed for restoration. She has spent two hours trying to procure a peek. If everyone hassled the guardian enough, perhaps...

We request. He resists. We implore: ONLY two minutes. He succumbs.

Shah Abbas II’s Music Hall mesmerises with its eighteen columns, exquisitely carved ceiling, vaults, copper pond, fountains... We’re enraptured. The Guardian panics. Two minutes are up. They do not suffice - but neither does a lifetime, to appreciate such beauty. Better not get the guardian into trouble.

We’re summoned by the imperious cupola, flanked by towering minarets, of Imam Mosque. Famous Tabrizi calligrapher Abd al-Baghi’s works adorn the cupola and main avian of this four avian structure. Silver-plated carved doors open into a serene sanctuary. Esfahani youth come to play games in the courtyard, read under iridescent beehive-like carved stalactites or picnic in the haven of arbours.

School kids descend upon us, with a hundred million questions, charmingly asked in impeccable English, whilst someone else explains the mosque’s asymmetric architecture: it’s imperfect because only God is perfect.

This contrasts with the harmonious proportions of Sheikh Loftollah mosque next door. This masterpiece of decorative art took seventeen years to complete. What superb Mehrab, marble cornices, intricate latticework, exquisite inscriptions by Ali-Reza Abbasi, and a colour scheme of outstanding beauty!

Nip across a garden to Chehel-Sotun Palace. Its forty columns are reflected in a fountain that leads from the palace gates up to the avian, which has a beautifully painted wood-panelled ceiling, intricately carved doors, stucco decorations and extraordinary frescoes. The gilded and mirrored palace houses fascinating paintings of battle, court and pastoral scenes.

Pass the Hasht Behesht Palace, famed for its magnificent marble slabs and décor, to the Abassi, a 300-year-old caravansary, the world’s oldest, built by Shah Abbas I to host his mother and royal guests. Today, this ultra-luxurious hotel integrates original Persian artefacts within a contemporary setting.

Esfahan is divided into quarters, like Paris’s arrondissements. In the Old Quarter stands the 900-year-old Jame Mosque, the city’s oldest and most diversified monument, combining Dailamite, Seljuquid and Mogul art. The earth cupola, according to its Kufic inscription, dates to 1088 AD. At the Uljaitu Mosque on the West of the complex, the guardian enquires “Are you Indian?” An affirmative answer merits a private view of the legendary Kufic inscription-carved stucco Mehrab with its plasterwork, a 1310 AD masterpiece, not accessible to tourists. But the guardian adores Bollywood, so...

The Jewish and Armenian Quarters lie across the Zayandehrud River, reminding that Muslims, Christians and Jews have co-habited Esfahan for centuries. An impressive belfry in Armenian Jolfa recommends a visit to Vank Cathedral’s gilded painting-adorned interiors and mini museum.

Following the fragrance of fresh bread, as one does in Iran, we discover a wonderful bakery. An Armenian customer invites us back to her boutique. Très chic! “One lives well in Esfahn,” she smiles.

Esfahani predilection for fine things is apparent in the swirl of elegance around Imam Square and Chahar Bagh, whose smart boutiques are patronised by fashion-conscious women sporting trim jackets and three-quarter trousers, flaunting scandalously chic shoes. Stylish scarves can’t contain their tinted/highlighted hair. The hijab accentuates the Persians’ impeccably chiselled features and almond eyes, usually hidden behind... designer dark glasses.

Even Esfahan’s souks and bazaars, unlike those elsewhere in the Orient, exude elegance - from the beautiful vaulted Safavid Bazaar-E Honar to the Qaisariyeh Bazaar (with a superb mural adorning its great portal), which Alexander Pope declared “the handsomest bazaar of all.”

Lose yourself in labyrinthine galleries of expertly handcrafted antiques, jewellery, silverwork, enamelwork, miniatures, carpets, qalamkar, textiles, embroidery... Esfahanis, like Parisians, are fanatical about artisanal products. Observe master metal craftsmen intricately engraving silver, brass, copper; and miniaturists, working with a single hair of a brush, exquisitely painting camel bone, ivory or Khatam-Kari jewellery boxes, cigarette cases and frames. Carpet-makers weave sweepingly floral, uniquely Esfahani designs, which sometimes take years to complete.

Impressive too is Imam Square’s fruit market, abounding with produce from Esfahan’s bounteous orchards: “King’s fruit” golden pears, rosewater apples, aromatic quinces, extraordinary Gorgah melons. Of the dry fruit, ooh là là...what a bewildering variety of nuts and berries!

Esfahan is Iran’s gastronomic capital. Feast on sumptuous cuisine garnished with exotic sauces like pomegranate and walnut, and succumb to delectable traditional sweetmeats. Restaurants are superb, but never resist being hijacked to lavish villas for suppers fit for a Shah. “That’s my son, not a bear,” our host declares, as a grisly giant of a boy emerges to great us. Esfahani humour(!) Our host delights us with Byron and Shelley recitals - Persians, like Parisians, are art-obsessed.

Hospitality distinguishes Persians from Parisians - one must allow for time spent being constantly whisked away for copious cups of saffron tea. Or, languishing in teahouses - more dangerously addictive than Parisian cafes, an English tourist confirmed: he came to Esfahan for three days, stayed three months. And his visa expired...cross that bridge when you come to it?

Ah, Esfahani bridges. They have long lured visitors with their historical beauty and exceptional architecture, which can rival Parisian splendour. Pol-e Shahrestan, Esfahan’s most ancient bridge from Sassanid times, stands on rocks of the riverbed.

Si-O-Se Pol’s thirty-three spectacular arches are reflected in the river. From the bridge’s al fresco teahouse, behold the river change hues through out the day- azure, pink, golden and lilac.

The manicured riverbanks with smart squares and high-rise skyline recall any ultra-modern city. But the oriental bridges remind that one’s not in Europe. The 17th-century Khaju Bridge, with its arched arcades and tiled alcoves, is Esfahan’s most exquisite. On balmy evenings, the terraces get busy with couples enjoying the gorgeously lit sequence of bridges over the river.

Paris, the world’s most romantic place? Courtly love flourishes in Esfahan: along the river, on bridges, in teahouses, around blooming gardens. Esfahan is famed for its rose bushes, but don’t approach them - you’ll inevitably tread over latticed feet of lovebirds chirping sweet nothings...