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Chahar Bagh
The Great Avenue |
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Shah Abbas
I laid out this magnificent avenue
between 1596 and 1597. The Avenue runs from a district
known as Hezar Jerib
(The thousand acres) in the South up to a wide square
near the palace of Chehel Sotoon, crossing the Zayandeh
at the Si-o-Seh
Pol bridge.
The name means literally "Four Gardens" and
this alludes to the four great parks which were laid out
on either side of the road. The central path was
originally a watercourse and the pathways on either side
of it were set as present amongst double rows of chenar
trees (platanus orientalis).
The asphalted roads on either side of the central
reservation were originally flower beds.
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| Today the
avenue is very much the centre of life in the town. The
shops abutting it are the finest, and the principal
hotels ion the city are situated either on it or adjacent
to it. The central reservation is screened from the
ever-present traffic although you need to watch out for
motor-cyclists, and at dusk it is full of people taking
the air and talking. |
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