PLACE DE L'IMAM OR PLACE NAGHSH E JAHAN

A huge rectangular square of 160 m over 512 m, the place de l 'Imam is simply one of the largest in the world. Framed by mosquoise mosques, a palace perched on columns of wood wood and a covered bazaar, it is one of the most spectacular architectural ensembles in the country and the Middle East. In the background, the cupolas, the minarets, the sensitive agitation of the bazaar whose disdals leave north of the square: everything helps to evoke the most beautiful mirages in the East.

In the south, the great Royal Mosque faces the entrance of the great bazaar to the north (door Qeysarieh); to the east, the Cheikh Lotfollâh mosque faces the Ali Qâpu Pavilion (the High Gate). Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), the great safavide king, who will make Ispahan its capital in 1598, rebuilt a new city according to a simple and grandiose plan, with broad orders and wide breakthroughs. A good example of urban planning ahead of time. The heart was the Place of the King (1611), a huge perimeter surrounded by long double arcade walls, whose dimensions were planned to accommodate a polo field. It was in the Place Royale, covered with sand, that all the festivities and the great polo tournaments, which we still distinguish between the poles in front of the bazaar on one side and the mosque on the other, were held. Other less sympathetic demonstrations, particularly executions, were also held on the square. The center of the square today hosts watersheds and fountains that are animated by friendly horses drawing their sleeves throughout the day for the pleasure of tourists.

The Afghan invasion of 1722 will put an end to the magnificence of a city that will paint for two centuries to regain its rank. But the immense restoration work undertaken has made Ispahan's shine, which is once again among Iran's largest urban centers. With incomparable monuments like the Imam mosque (old Royal Mosque), one of the most beautiful of the country, Ispahan couldn't stay in the shadows.