Ali Qapu Palace

A six-storey palace on the western side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square that under the Safavids served as the ceremonial entrance to the royal residence: beyond it began the gardens, which have come down to us only in part. The name translates as 'lofty gate'. The main thing in the palace is the talar, an open terrace on eighteen slender wooden columns, projecting out over the square at third-floor level. From here the shah and his entourage watched mounted polo, parades and executions, and from here today opens the best view of the whole ensemble: the Imam Mosque at the far end, the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah opposite, the double arcades around the perimeter. The ceiling of the terrace is made up of painted beams with mirror inlays. On the top floor there is a music room where the walls and vaults are cut with the silhouettes of jugs and vessels - not decoration but acoustic treatment, damping the echo. The painting of the inner chambers has suffered badly: some of the figurative scenes were chipped away as long ago as the nineteenth century.

On the map