Dowlat Abad Garden like other ancient gardens in Iran had its own architectural method. The windcatcher is the only difference between other ancient gardens. If you go to Iranian ancient garden, you will notice that they almost have the same layout which there are two buildings and a long narrow pool between them. For example, you will see such a layout in Shazade Garden in Kerman too, exactly the same as Dowlat Abad Garden in Yazd.
Dowlat Abad Garden has the highest world windcatcher with approximately 34m height in order to make the magnificent octagon building cold in the hot weather and climate of Yazd. This building is one of the nine Iranian historic gardens (alongside Eram Garden in Shiraz, Shazade Garden in Kerman, Pasargadae Garden in Marvdasht) which has been registered on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. In this essay we are going to have a little explanation about:
- Garden
- Interior architecture
- Bottom of the windcatcher inside the octagon building
- Interior architecture-1st floor
Garden
As we said in the previous posts about ancient Persian gardening, it has special architecture and layout in which two main building have been built with long pool between them and the beautiful garden around them.
This is the place in Dowlat Abad Garden which lord would live in it. This building has the tallest windcatcher in the world. The cold and clean (dustless) wind was more accessible in the height. this is why they made such a tall windcatcher for that building.
Interior architecture
Inside the springhouse (in Persian Hosekhaneh) above your head inside the main building you can see the magnificent art of architecture. The design is called Rasmibandi in Persian. Rasmibandi is one of the designing methods for decorating under the dome, above the entrance and porch and the design included Shapes of Shmaseh, Toranj, Pabarik and Hafti which in the next level would be covered by tile, brick or plaster. There is another point here about for wooden windows. When they want to use the cold wind, caught by windcatcher and blown to the ground floor, for the first floor, they opened these windows to lead the cold wind to first floor.
Orosi windows are a kind of window you can find in Persian architecture. They had made in reticular shape with color glass. The main purposes of making such wooden windows in this color are beauty and absorbing the sunlight rays. Ceiling of springhouse (Hosekhaneh) with Rasmibandi design from another angle.
Bottom of the windcatcher inside the octagon building
Here you see the bottom of windcatcher of Dowlat Abad Garden which causes the wind to flow through it and hit the wind on water surface and eventually the cold wind blows inside the building.
Interior architecture-1st floor
This is the other side of wooden window from first floor, overlooking inside the spring house (Hosekhaneh) which used to be used for controlling the blown wind to the first floor by closing or opening it. If you pay more attention, you will notice that the ceiling design in first and second floor are the same and the architects used Rasmibandi for decorating of the ceiling too. And Rasmibandi design of first floor ceiling from another angle in main building of Dowlatabad garden of Yazd.