Naqsh-e Jahan Square

A rectangle roughly 560 by 160 metres, laid out by Shah Abbas I in 1598, when he moved the Safavid capital to Isfahan. The square was conceived from the start as the centre of the state: it is closed on four sides by the Imam Mosque, the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, the Ali Qapu palace and the portal of the Grand Bazaar, while two tiers of identical brick arcades with shops run around the perimeter. Polo on horseback was played inside the ensemble — the stone goalposts of that era still stand on the short sides of the rectangle. The square acquired its second name, Maidan-e Imam, after 1979, but the old name, "Image of the World", is used just as often. Since 1979 the ensemble has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list as one of the most coherent examples of Safavid town planning. Today horse-drawn carriages take visitors around the square, carpets and chased metalwork are sold in the arcades, and a lawn with a long pool is laid out in the centre. It is worth coming twice: by day, when the tiles of the domes give their full colour, and after sunset, when the floodlighting comes on and the arcades turn into a double line of lights.

On the map