Dowlatabad Garden

🕰️When was it built?

Mohammad Taqi Khan Bafqi, the governor of Yazd known as the Great Khan, built the garden at the end of the Afsharid period. Before building it he dug a qanat to carry water from the highlands of Mehriz to Yazd, and then set up his government complex beside that water.

🏛️What was it built for?

The garden had two separate parts. In the andaruni, the private quarter, the governor and his family lived; in the biruni, the outer quarter, city business and official ceremonies were handled. Doormen were even posted to keep the private part closed off.

👀What you will see

• The windcatcher of the Hashti mansion is about 33.8 metres tall and stands on an octagonal building.
• Pools inside the Hashti mansion worked with the windcatcher's airflow to carry cool air into the main rooms and halls.
• The mansion's three alcoves have lattice doors, and the central ceiling is decorated with clay and plaster vaulting.
• A tall mud-brick wall and a watchtower surround the garden and can be seen from outside.
• Pools and fountains sit between beds of pomegranates and vines; water is a key part of the garden's layout.

💡Something interesting

Before reaching the garden, the water of the Dowlatabad qanat irrigated farmland in Mehriz and turned several watermills. Today the garden draws its water from a nearby well and no longer depends only on the old qanat.

🎒Good to know before you go