Paradise Garden - Derived Garden Types

Derived Garden Types

The Persian paradise garden is one of the handful of fundamental original garden types from which all the world's gardens derive, in various combinations. In its simplest form, the Persian garden consists of a formal rectangle of water, with enough of a flow to give it life and movement, and with a raised platform to view it from. A pavilion provides more permanent shelter than the original tent, and strictly aligned, formally arranged trees, especially the chenar or Platanus, provide shade, and the perimeter is walled for privacy and security. Odor and fruit are important elements in this pairedeza or paradise, which realizes the symbol of eternal life, a tree with a spring issuing at its roots.

The Achaemenid kings set these gardens within enclosed royal hunting parks, a different landscape garden tradition, which they inherited from the Assyrians, for whom the ritual lion hunt was a rite that authenticated kingship, far more than a mere royal sport.

It became the foundation of much of the garden traditions of Islam, and later on of Europe. Examples of the paradise garden and its derivatives can be seen today in many of the historic gardens of Islamic and European countries. In the east, the Persian garden gave rise to the Mughal gardens of India, a late example of which is the grounds of the Taj Mahal at Agra. In the farthest west, it is best known by the paved and tiled courtyards with arcades, pools and fountains of Moorish Andalusia. They are used as the main design for the Versailles Gardens that almost replicate the outlines of paradisio gardens of pasargad and as inspiration for the gardens at the Louvre. Another example is of the Bahá'í Terraces on Mount Carmel and the Mansion of Bahjí both of which have extensive gardens intricately laid out with respect to the buildings on the site.