Eram Garden - History

History

Both the Qavam House pavilion and the garden were built during the middle of nineteenth century by the Ilkhanate or a paramount chief of the Qashqai tribes of Pars. The original layout of the garden however, with its quadripartite Persian Paradise garden structure was most likely laied in eighteenth century by the Seljuqs, and was then referred to as the "Bagh-e-Shah" (meaning the "garden of the king" in Persian) and was much less complicated or ornamental. Cornelius de Bruyn, a traveller from the Netherlands, wrote a description of the gardens in the eighteenth century.

Over its 150 years the structure has been modified, restored or stylistically changed by various participants. The Qavam House faces south along the long axis. It was designed by a local architect, Haji Mohammad Hasan. The structure housed 32 rooms on two stories, decorated by tiles with poems from the Persian poet Hafez written on them. The structure underwnet renovation by the Zand dynasty and was also renovated during the time of the Qajar dynasty.

The Pahlavi dynasty invested a lot in this garden renovating it to an internationally recognizable status. In 1965 Britain's embassador to Iran, Sir Denis Wright was invited by the Chancellor of Shiraz University Asadollah Alam, to a party in Eram Garden for Princess Alexandra of the Oglivy. The compound came under the protection of Pahlavi University during the Pahlavi era, and was used as the College of Law. Qavam House housed the Asia Institute.

Today Eram Garden and Qavam House are within Shiraz Botanical Garden (established 1983) of Shiraz University. They are open to the public as a historic landscape garden and house museum. They are World Heritage Site, and protected by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization.