Karim Khan Citadel:
During the Iran Travel, visiting of Shiraz is very wonderful. One of the most beautiful and amazing monuments among Iran Attractions is Karim Khan Citadel in the center of Shiraz.
Karim Khan Citadel is located at the beginning of Karim Khan Zand Street (Shiraz) at the municipality square. Karim Khan was influenced by the Safavid architecture during the founding of his government in Shiraz.
After visiting the “Naghsh-e Jahan “square in Isfahan, Karim Khan decided to create a vast square in north of Shiraz. Then this field was known as the artillery square.
Karim Khan Zand himself after constructing the Square began to build some monuments which were very important and useful. They all are around the square: on the north of it Karim Khan Courtyard,
On the east “Vakil Bazaar” the Market and several Caravanserais,
On the south of it the “Bath and Vakil mosque“,
And on the west and southwest of the square the garden, the Citadel of Karim Khan and his house were founded.
Following the conquest of Shiraz by “Aqa Muhammad Khan Ghajar “, in an enmity with Karim Khan, he decided to demolish the buildings of Karim Khani, following this decision destroyed some of the buildings of the Zandiyeh era,
At first, the city of Sarah, built by Karim Khan, was destroyed.
Fortunately, the castle was destroyed and used as a command center by local commanders who were elected by the central government to the governorate of Fars.
The construction of the Karim Khan citadel was carried out between 1766 and 1767 and Karim Khan Zand one of the best kings of Iran History used its best architects to make it.
He also provided the best materials from inside and outside the country and quickly completed construction. This building was used during the Zandiyeh dynasty of Iran History as the seat of government and in the Qajar period as a place of local governors.
“Abdul Hussein Mirza Farman farma”, the governor of Fars, ordered to rebuild the miniatures painted in the building. This 4,000-meter building is located in the center of an area of 12800 square meters.
The dynasties and rulers of the Qajar era created personal changes in this building.
Among them, in the central courtyard, they created a dynasty of mansion, which was an outrageous patron of the Karim Khan citadel.
Another was that the surface of the paintings of the Zandiyeh era was covered and other decorations were made according to their taste.
Because the plaster was not easily placed on the previous layers of plaster, to do that, the wall surface was damaged by a chip axe and thus caused the most destruction in the building.
Architecture of the Karim Khan Citadel
The Karim Khan citadel is a combination of two residential and military architectures. The inner part of the Karim Khan citadel is arranged with verandahs and painted rooms, waterfalls and gardens the wonderful Iran Attractions.
The three sides of the north, south and west each have a porch and six living rooms on both sides. The Oriental side includes private baths and some amenities.
The tower and quadruple rain, along with the ditch that was previously dug it, also played the defensive role of the building. The thickness of the walls is 3 meters from the base. The height of the towers is 15 meters and is made of bricks.
One of the four towers of Karim Khan citadel, such as the Pisa Tower, has been crouched as one of the attractions of the Iran Tourism Attractions of Shiraz. The moratorium on the morphology of the tower is important in terms of engineering and engineering.
The outside of the building is brickwork and the height of the congress walls is 12 meters, with a 14-meter tower on each corner.
At the edge of the wall, there are very good treadmills for gunfire and shooting during the war. The appearance of the building is not even much decorated on the inside and limited to the interior of the rooms.
The main materials used in the building are brick and stone, which was used only in marble and was made from Tabriz.
Citadel building has very thick and impermeable walls. The highest thickness of the walls exists in the outer walls of the citadel.
In these walls there are rock gutters made for the rain above the top, as well as gunboats for shooting. The piles are built in the four corners of the Karim Khan citadel, each with a 6 meter base.
It is said that during construction of this building due to soil sinking and the inappropriate nature of the northwest to create the tower due to its high weight, the construction site is drawn several meters to the west, which is why the tower is not in line with other towers. And in the form of trapezoid Is incomplete.
These towers have three separate floors and are staggered by walkways.
Travel to Iran has many masterpieces to show .An interesting point is that all rooms are interconnected from within the building. In addition, the Karim Khan citadel has castles on different sides and with different uses.
The northern Alcove is suitable for winter, and the other is the main Alcove which is located on the western side and has a large pond facing it. It has a summer function and the Western Shah is for all seasons.
The entrance of the Karim Khan citadel in the external view with a large tile panorama of Rostam’s battle scene with a white bogy that is related to the Qajar period. The tiled facade of the inner courtyard on the eastern side above the entrance has completely disappeared.
The presence of head valves around the roof edge, while preventing direct sunlight from the outside of the summer to the rooms and during rain, well protects the Chinese knot gate windows.
The water has been supplied from “Rokn-Abad” aqueduct, known as Rokni. Mineral water is considered the best water in Shiraz, and now the water supply system has been destroyed by the destruction of this aqueduct.
Inside the Karim Khan citadel, the bathroom is one of the first private baths in this style in Iran and is used to bath the royal household.
