Driving further south, I reach Kashan, well known for its roses and rosewater. But now is not the season, alas, though dried roses and rosewater can still be bought everywhere. Persians enjoy putting dried roses in their tea or stirring dried rose petals into their yoghurt. Rosewater is of course used as a perfume or in desserts. The first impression of Kashan is that it is a quiet gracious town, not quite the hustle bustle of Qom and certainly not a metropolis the scale of Tehran or Mashhad.
Arriving at Kashan late morning, the first stop is at the Bagh-i-Fin, the beautiful gardens at the outskirts of the town.
The gardens were first built for Safavid kings (16th-18thC) and are laid out in a typical Persian manner, similar to the Mughal gardens I visited in Pakistan and India last month (see earlier blogs on the gardens in Lahore and Kashmir; the Mughals were of a later period and followed earlier Persian designs). The entrance does not immediately reveal the garden inside and one has to first pass through a narrow corridor to arrive at the garden; this is typical of Persian gardens which are intended to replicate paradise and thus an element of mystery is important, and it also serves the purpose of shielding any ladies who might be in the garden. A Persian garden also has quite a strict symmetrical layout with a central water channel leading to fountains and a central pavilion, and sometimes smaller pavilions on the side or behind the central pavilion in larger gardens. Persian gardens are also known for their abundance of water, and the Fin garden does not disappoint on this account. The fountains are functioning as are most of the water channels running throughout the entire area of the gardens. Underground water springs underneath the garden provide fresh running water. Amazingly, the water is clear and clean. Cypresses have also been planted alongside the water channels; cypresses of course symbolize longevity (another nod to the paradise theme).
At the left far corner of the garden is a beautiful Qajar pavilion with open fountains under their domes and beautifully preserved paintings on the inside of the dome and arches – blue and white paintings of hunting, dancing and other royal leisure scenes (like paintings on china), and coloured designs of flowers and beds. On the right side of the garden is a small but interesting museum with artifacts from Sialk (settlements near Kashan which date back to 5th or 4th millennium BC) and examples of historical Kashan carpet and velvet embroidered work. The Fin garden is also well known in Iran because it was where Aamir Kabir, a progressive minister in Qajar times, was killed due to opposition to his reforms. He was killed in the hammam (wrists slit) which is located to the left as one enters the garden.
