The building known as Sarvestan Palace is
thought to have been constructed during the reign of the Sasanian King Bahram
V, who ruled from 420 – 438 CE.
Nowadays this stone and mortar building stands
in splendid isolation, dominating the vast plain some 80km to the southeast of
Shiraz, but on closer inspection it is clear from some of the mounds visible in
the plain – for example one just to the north of the Palace - that this was not
the only substantial building in the area.
The building is usually termed a ‘Palace’ but
in fact its function is not clear. Certainly it is a substantial construction
that would have been richly decorated. Some scholars have suggested that it may
have been a hunting lodge for King Bahram, since many of the legends that grew
up around the king relate him indulging in this princely pursuit. André Godard
believed that it might have been a small palace for receiving guests built by
Mehr Narseh, the Bahram’s Grand Vizier, who is known to have been responsible
for a considerable number of building works, including fire temples, formal gardens
and bridges while Oleg Grabar suggested that Sarvestan may have been some kind
of sanctuary, an example of royal architecture converted into a fire temple. A residence
of the local governor is another theory that has been put forward, however on
the available evidence, the precise function of the structure remains unknown.
Originally the structure was approached from
the south, via a façade with three iwans (today the path from the parking area
takes you to near the north-east corner). The central, larger iwan of the south
façade led onto a large square room with a large baked brick dome. The two
smaller iwans on each side of lead into a series of interconnecting rooms.
The large square room had four windows between
the corner squinches to support the dome which rested on corbelling, ensuring a
perfectly circle. Instead of a central oculus, additional lighting was provided
by hollow terracotta cylinders set into the dome at intervals.
This square domed room leads onto a rectangular
courtyard with a single iwan on the central axis in the blind western wall. Rooms
or suites of rooms surround the square domed room and courtyard and lead back
to the two smaller entrance façade arches. Each room is architecturally
different from the others, and there are individual features that make the
building different from the earlier ‘palaces’ of Qalah-e Dokhtar and Ardašir,
near Firuzabad, including that the building has entrances on all sides, and the
use of piers to support the vaults of the façade.
Another interesting feature is that the
rectangular side rooms feature columns as supports for the vaulting, with
semi-domes above. There is a pleasing variety to the rooms, and a lack of symmetry
within the building.
The palace is well preserved, but has also
undergone considerable restoration. From the remaining decorative elements,
including traces of stucco, we can imagine that the building must have been
very fine indeed. Look for the dogtooth moulding in the zone of transition
under the dome, and in the niches in the side rooms. Also note the quantity of
pottery sherds, including glazed wares, littering the ground around the site.
So, an enigmatic building. It remains to be seen whether we will ever know its purpose.
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