Ali Qapu Palace in Isfahan

 

Recently I've looked at the stamp collection of my late father and found some old stamps from Persia or Iran. One of the stamps showed the imperial palace Ali Qapu in Isfahan, which I've visited in 2004 and 2018. The face of the young Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the stamp is nearly obliterated by the postmark, but so it leaves a free view on the palace. The palace is also depicted on old Iranian 20,000 Rial banknotes[1], but on my new Iranian 20,000 Rial banknote there is a picture of the wind catchers in Abarkooh. The name Ali Qapu means imperial gate.

Ālī Qāpū Palace is on the western side of Naghsh-e Jahan square (also known as Khomeini Square or Meidān-e Emām) [2]. In 2004 I stayed in a private apartment just around the corner in Saadi Street. Ali Qapu Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site becauce of its cultural and historical importance and this includes Naghsh-e Jahan square as well (or maybe better the other way around). If you look east across the square you can see Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque [3].

Shah Abbas I had decreed the building of Ali Qapu in the early seventeenth century. The palace had been ornamented by lots of wall paintings with floral, animal, and bird motifs. Much (nearly all) of the ornamented doors and windows as well as some parts of the paintings had suffered during the islamic revolution. Still there's a lot to be seen.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80l%C4%AB_Q%C4%81p%C5%AB and especially  https://www.worldbanknotescoins.com/2017/03/iran-20-rials-banknote-1953-mohammad-reza-shah-pahlavi.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80l%C4%AB_Q%C4%81p%C5%AB
[3] I've already used this view to illustrate other blogposts, like: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-very-basic-guide-to-farsi-persian_79.html or: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/08/julja-schneider-gerhard-kern-mit-es.html


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