I set off to Kashan very early in the morning in the company of a guide (Mohammed Reza), once it would take us around three hours to reach the city I intended to visit. Fin Garden was our first stop. Having been to various gardens before I was nevertheless impressed by this UNESCO designated world heritage site, which is believed to have been established before the Safavid period and later laid out in the traditional chahar bagh comprising several pools, fountains and canals, whose water is carried from the Karkas mountains by an underground aquaduct to a reservoir, which then "feeds" the garden intricate water system.
The combined architectural features of both the Safavid, Zandiyeh and Qajar periods, especially the elaborate paintings on the dome of the pool house caught my attention, but so did the numerous cypress, plane and other species of trees, which provided the whole ensemble with an outstanding nature oriented atmosphere.
The visit to the Bagh-e Fin garden ended at the beautiful tile glazed covered Hamman, which is connected to a dramatic story involving the assassination of Amir Kabir, who had been exiled in the premises of the garden together with Jalil Khan and two hundred cavalry men.
(To be continued)
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