Shazdeh Garden, Mahan

Shazdeh Garden, the “Prince’s Garden”, is a walled Qajar garden just outside the town of Mahan, about 35 km south-east of Kerman. Built mainly in the 1880s for the governor of Kerman, it sends water down a long series of terraces and fountains between rows of trees, a green strip set against bare desert and mountains, and since 2011 it has been one of the nine gardens of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “The Persian Garden”.

A prince’s garden that was never finished

According to Persian sources, the garden was first laid out on the orders of Mohammad Hasan Khan Sardar Iravani, a Qajar governor of Kerman. Its buildings were mostly put up by Abdolhamid Mirza Naser od-Dowleh, a Qajar prince who governed Kerman for about eleven years, from 1298 to 1309 in the Islamic calendar (roughly 1881–1891). The garden takes its popular name from him: shazdeh is the everyday form of shahzadeh, “prince”.

When the governor died suddenly, work stopped. A local story says that a builder finishing the tiled gateway heard the news, threw his tray of plaster against the wall and walked away. Whether or not that is true, gaps in the tilework over the entrance can still be seen. The garden was registered as a national monument in 1974 and restored in later decades.

How the garden works

A Persian garden is built around water, and Shazdeh shows the idea very clearly. The site lies on a slope. Water, brought from the mountains above, enters at the top near the residence and flows down the central axis through a chain of stepped falls and pools. The difference in height alone gives the fountains their pressure; there are no pumps in the original design. On each side, rows of tall trees shade the paths and the planted beds. Outside the high wall, the land is almost bare.

The layout follows the classic four-part plan only loosely: the garden is a long rectangle with the main axis running up the slope, so the main view is along the line of falling water. For other examples of the same tradition, see Fin Garden in Kashan, Eram Garden in Shiraz and Dowlatabad Garden in Yazd.

What to look at

The entrance building

At the lower end, the gateway building has an upper pavilion with windows looking up the length of the garden. Stand here first: the view of the cascades rising towards the residence, framed by the trees, is the garden’s best-known picture.

The cascades

Walk up beside the water. Each terrace has its own small fall and pool, and the sound of water changes as you go. Notice the stone edges and the shallow, carved steps that make the water break and sparkle.

The residence

At the upper end stands the two-storey residence, a light, open building with arcades and a pool in front, where the governor and his guests could sit and look down the garden. Which rooms are open inside varies.

Late afternoon and evening

The garden is at its best late in the day, when the low sun lights the trees and the mountains behind turn pink. In the evening the fountains and buildings are often lit.

Mahan

The small town of Mahan is also known for the shrine of the Sufi master and poet Shah Nematollah Vali, who died in the 15th century, with its tiled domes and courtyards. The two are easily seen in one half-day trip from Kerman, and the Ganjali Khan Complex in the city makes a good Safavid counterpart to this Qajar garden.

Practical notes

• Mahan is about half an hour by road from Kerman. Taxis and tours are easy to arrange in the city.
• Spring and autumn are the best times; in winter nights are cold at this altitude, and the trees are bare.
• Check current opening hours and tickets locally.