The Palace of Forty Pillars

From the fourteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century, Ispahan was a flourishing and steadily increasing city. In the seventeenth century, when Shah Abbas made it his residence and the capital of Persia, it rose rapidly and became one of the most magnificent cities of Asia. But in 1722 it was taken and sacked by the Afghans, and although it was recovered in 1729, yet Teheran became the capital and Ispahan fell into decay. Its splendid ruins testify to its former magnificence; in an extensive pleasure ground on the south side of the city, is the Palace of Forty Pillars (Tchehl Situn), once a favorite royal residence, whose front is formed of a double range of columns, each forty feet high and each resting upon the united backs of four white marble lions. The pillars are inlaid with mirrors, and the walls and roof are profusely decorated with glass and gilding, so that the whole edifice looks as if built of pearl and silver, gold and precious stones. Another monument of the former magnificence of Ispahan is the bridge, 1000 feet long, over the Zendarud River, resting on thirty-four arches, and bearing galleries. These and many other wonderful monuments are rapidly decaying, and are surrounded by ruins. There are miles of streets in Ispahan with no inhabitants, though its population is now estimated at from 60,000 to 100,000, and there are signs, moreover, which indicate that Ispahan may rise again; its manufactures of gold, silver, silk, velvet, glass, etc., maintain a high reputation, and the artisans of Ispahan are esteemed the best in Persia; besides this, it is situated, as in olden times, on the main route between India and Europe, and the surrounding country is exceedingly fertile and well cultivated.