Shokatabad Garden

🕰️When was it built?

The complex dates back to the Qajar era and is linked with the name of Amir Esmail Khan Shokat al-Molk. The garden and its buildings were added to the National Heritage List on 14 August 1999 as number 2363. Some parts were added to the main mansion later.

🏛️What was it built for?

The southern part of the complex was the private home of the governor and his family, and some inner spaces were used for ceremonies and receiving guests. The pool room, the private quarters and the garden had different roles; as you look round, you can follow this split between family space and reception space.

👀What you will see

• The large dome of the pool room has a windowed kolah-farangi in its centre, which lets some light down into the space below.
• The plaster panels of the inner iwan and the decoration along the roof edge are details of the mansion's front.
• Blind arches around the pool room shape the walls of the interior; seeing them depends on whether you can go in.
• Some rooms have barrel-vaulted ceilings; follow the curve of the ceiling from below, without going near worn parts.
• The middle of the mansion's front projects to form an octagon, and fruit and ornamental trees fill the garden.

🎒Good to know before you go

• The garden is about five kilometres east of Birjand, beside the Birjand–Zahedan road and opposite the University of Birjand.