Beautiful Eram Garden In Shiraz, Iran
Eram Garden (Persian: باغ ارم Bāgh-e Eram) is a historic Persian garden in Shiraz, Iran. Eram is the Persianized version of the Arabic word “Iram” meaning heaven in the Qur’an. Eram Garden therefore is so called for its aesthetic attractions resembling “heaven.” The garden, and the Qavam House within it, are located on the northern shore of the Khoshk river in the Fars province.Both the Qavam House pavilion and the garden were built during the middle of nineteenth century by the Ilkhanate or a paramount chief of the Qashqai tribes of Pars. The original layout of the garden however, with its quadripartite Persian Paradise garden structure was most likely laied in eighteenth century by the Seljuqs, and was then referred to as the “Bāgh-e Shāh” (“the king’s garden” in Persian) and was much less complicated or ornamental. Cornelius de Bruyn, a traveller from the Netherlands, wrote a description of the gardens in the eighteenth century.
Over its 150 years the structure has been modified, restored or stylistically changed by various participants. The Qavam House faces south along the long axis. It was designed by a local architect, Haji Mohammad Hasan. The structure housed 32 rooms on two stories, decorated by tiles with poems from the poet Hafez written on them. The structure underwent renovation during the Zand and Qajar dynasties. In 1965, British ambassador to Iran, Sir Denis Wright was invited by the Chancellor of Shiraz University Asadollah Alam, to a party in Eram Garden for Princess Alexandra of the Oglivy. The compound came under the protection of Pahlavi University during the Pahlavi era, and was used as the College of Law. Qavam House housed the Asia Institute. Today Eram Garden and Qavam House are within Shiraz Botanical Garden (established 1983) of Shiraz University. They are open to the public as a historic landscape garden and house museum. They are World Heritage Site, and protected by Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization.