Fin Garden, Kashan

Fin Garden, Kashan

Fin Garden

Built by the order of Shah Abbas and enlarged and partly rebuilt by Shah Abbas II and Fath Ali shah (1799-1834), Fin Garden became one of the favorite residences of Persian Kings. The attentions brought by these kings have led to a gradual expansion and beautification of the garden over the centuries, and now Fin Garden is one of the most beautiful Persian Gardens in Iran. It brings together the architectural elements of the Safavid, Zand and Qadjar periods.

Fin garden that is surrounded by a wall, and once was protected by towers at the corners of the garden. Fin Garden occupies a ground of 2.3 hectares and is located near the important source of water, the Soleymanieh spring. The presence of water has led the kings of Persia to build many buildings for their rest. Thanks to the rustle of fountains and water channels pouring into the marble basins, Fin Garden has a vision like the garden of Eden.

The pavilions that exist today are replaced with those of the Safavid era and date back mostly to the reign of Fath Ali Shah, Qadjar dynasty. The alignment of trees, massive network of small channels and marble basins remain very faithful to the original plan. 

Fin Garden was then abandoned until 1935, and obviously was damaged as nobody lived there, but was repaired then. It was inscribed on the protected heritage list of Iran, and became one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Iran in 2011.

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The small wooden door gives access to the entrance hall ( hashti ), whose ceiling is decorated with tiles and bricks. After a refreshing stroll along the slightly inclined pools, finely pruned orchards, cypress hedges flirting with the sky, you arrive at the central pavilion of the Fin Garden, a two-storey building covered with terracotta bricks and ceramic tiles. This amazing landscape gathers like a painter on his palette, the green color of the plants, the blue color of the sky and the water.

On the ground floorthe Fin Garden, entrances were arranged on all four sides, allowing to enter from any side of the garden. In the middle of this pavilion, there is a small pond fed by a pipe directly connected to the source, where Shah Safi I used to make their ablutions there. You will see many coins in the bottom of this basin. in fact, it is a custom today, to throw a coin into the basin while making a wish.

The vaults are covered with earthenware drawing beautiful geometric patterns.

Inside this pavilion there is a hammam (bathhouse), called the Fin Bath, covered with beautiful blue mosaics. These royal baths were built, along with the garden, in the reign of Shah Abbas I. It is necessary to go down a few steps to reach it, because the ground of these baths is 1 meter below the garden to facilitate providing water for the supply of hot water.

In the heart of the Fin bath, we come up against a small gathering of real-size sculptures behind a glass case, that help us discover how people were dressed many years ago.

Amir Kabir who wanted to engage Iran on the path of modernization, helped Nasseredin Shah to ascend the throne with support of the court. His good position allowed him to implement many reforms, including a reduction in the wages that members of the royal family received from the national treasure, which pushed the very influential mother of Shah (Mahd Olia), to force his son remove Amir Kabir from his position and exile him to Kashan. Later, taking advantage of the king's drunkenness, Mahd Olia and his assistants persuaded him to order Amir Kabir's execution, which was done in haste, before the shah realized what he had done. Amir Kabir accepted the imperial order without resistance. 

Sorry for this bitter paragraph far from what we imagine to be in paradise, but this fact is authentic, models were put there to precisely take notice of this act, and I think the circumstances deserve to be explained.

The Fin Garden, is a good example of many Persian Gardens that have been built in all desert cities of Iran, as contrasting green heavens in the yellow deserts. The relaxing sound of moving water, birds and the wind is the only thing people lacked in the desert cities.

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