Eram garden in Shiraz: A dreamy paradise in the heart of the desert

In hot dry desert of Iran, Garden is like a gem which flourishing in night. Gardens have their own position in mind and heart of Iranian people. Finding a shade in the hot narrow alleys of desert cities is a blessing from god but visiting a garden is a chance that having it is a present from paradise on earth.so all gardens have an important position in Iranian mind . Eram in Persian language means paradise, and it means that Eram Garden means a peace of paradise on earth and exactly it is the best naming and concept for Eram Garden.

History of Eram Garden

Eram Garden is one of the oldest historical Gardens in Iran. Historical gardens have their own structure and most of them are the same forms and structure from at least 3000 years ago. From Babylonians to Achaemenids the form and structure of historical gardens are more or less the same. Eram Garden is not an exception and the form and structure of Eram Garden in Shiraz is like the other gardens around the country in other cities but there are some other features which make it unique and affordable to visit for tourists and other visitors during their visiting in Iran, Fars province and Shiraz. The very basic form and structure of Eram Garden goes back to the Seljuk era in 7th hijri calendar to10th to 11th century. Actually the time of establishment of Eram Garden in Shiraz is not very clear, but from the other side most of the gardens first core is not very clear in such an old historical country. In many cases the structures are established on the old historical structures made before and it is natural that all these historical places are repeating and repeating until today.
Today Eram Garden in Shiraz is one of the most prominent promenades in Shiraz city alone. People of Shiraz are famous because they are a kind of people who live in pleasure and take life as easy as they can. In every corner of Shiraz you can find hundreds of people who are picnicking and enjoy their life. Because of this, inside of the Eram Garden , even on normal days, is full of people who live in Shiraz or national and international tourists visiting Iran and Shiraz.

Unique features inside Eram Garden

In normal Persian gardens you can find tall walls surrounding the inside atmosphere of the garden and in many gardens you can find four or more watchtowers in corners of the junction of tall walls surrounding the whole area of the beautiful garden. These watchtowers are for controlling the interior of the garden. Actually Iran is the land of invasion. We are in the margins of different continents and this land was invaded many times from neighbors and because of fearing from invasion of enemies in all structures of Iran even in some mansions and small houses you can find watchtowers or defending assemblies which are not very popular in other countries which their security is guaranteed by local or natural governors.
This garden was owned by many people until the Qajar dynasty and during this time this vast garden was bought by a rich man who governed the Fars and Shiraz provinces and he added many different new structures to the beautiful garden. In all Persian gardens and in the upper part of the interior land of gardens there is a small to gig house or structure which is known as “Kushk” or interior house. Inside this garden there is a structure known as “Kushk” and looks like a palace in beauty, size and form. Even today this structure is like a gem in the heart of Shiraz and Eram Garden. This enormous structure was the house of noblemen during history and many wealthy elite people lived there and enjoyed their life during the last two centuries. After Qajar’s dynasty and the emerging Pahlavi’s dynasty, the garden and all lands belonging to it were confiscated by the government and now belongs to Shiraz University and changed to a very big botanical garden.In this botanical garden you can find many different species of flora and fortunately now everybody have the chance to visit this garden and enjoy visiting different flowers and trees which are gathered and planted in the garden.
After the Iranian revolution Shiraz University owned the garden and now Eram Garden belongs to the education ministry and all Iranian people.
One of the unique features inside Eram Garden in Shiraz is this botanical garden made in this old fashioned beautiful space. In a very hot and dry land in Iran, having a botanical garden is very valuable and many students take the advantage of having this valuable structure in the heart of Shiraz city and Fars province. One of the other unique features inside Eram Garden in Shiraz is its unique old tall Persian cypress trees rowed in the entrance of Shiraz botanical Eram Garden. When you enter the garden you can find many old and tall cypress trees which are more than 200 years old and they are very typical for explaining Iranian culture. Even on the stone scriptures of Persepolis you can find images of cypress trees behind the tribute bearers delivering tributes to the emperor. These are the same species you could see 2500 years ago in Persepolis and other parts of the empire .  
In all gardens of Iran you should find a source of water, a deep well today and a spring or qanat haranj or a branch of a river. Iran is a thirsty land, drought is natural most of the time even today. Our ancestors nearly 3000 years ago started to dig the land and make subterranean interconnected wells and channels and ditches which provide fresh water in hot deserts of Iran. They called this complicated structure Qanat which even today provides and brings water from deep wells to the surface to irrigate thirsty lands and farms and even provide drinking fresh water for local people. By bringing new technology to Iran, unfortunately people started to forget this old comprehensive technology and started to build and dig dip wells and by making them the Qanat structures started to destroy. By forgetting this passive and no energy consumers we relied on electricity and importing technology to irrigate farms and lands.
Fortunately today people started to rebuild the old fashioned structures and Qanats to irrigate the gardens and farms again. In old times and before coming new technology, to irrigate Eram Garden, the gardeners used the seasonal river branches which today known as dried river or the Qanates together but today by drying the river and Qanats they rely on deep wells to bring out the water from heart of the land and irrigate the trees and shrubs of garden.In old times, or even time nearly hundred years ago, in every home or garden there was a shallow pool to irrigate the land, these pools are shallow because the water is scarce and valuable and because of the hot weather and shining sun most of the water vaporizes and diminishes in the air. So by making shallow pools they prevented the chance to vaporize the valuable water especially in hot summers.
These shallow pools not only helped the people to cool down the weather around but helped to make a small reservoir of water to use or irrigate and give more natural beauty to the atmosphere of the garden. From the other side the reflection of the whole structure to the surface of the pool adds more beauty to the garden like a picturesque image which even today is a powerful motive to attract tourists and people to the garden. Many people take selfies by taking pictures of structures on the surface of the pool.
From the pool to the end of the garden you can find branched ditches which provide water from the source or harange of Qanat to very remote corners of the garden. The remaining water runs out of the garden and people of the lower lands used this water to irrigate their own small farms and gardens or used this water for cleaning and hygienic purposes. Because of this, contaminating the water and making it unclear is a big problem which should be prevented all the time and keeping this valuable fresh water is a must for everybody in homes or streets. Each small drop of water is as valuable as gold for people and even today water is as scarce as pure gold in Iran. Most of the trees of gardens in old times were fruit trees to provide some fruits for people but today you can find many ornamental trees added to old fashioned gardens.
Today thousands of local and international tourists are visiting this cultural heritage garden to learn or for recreational purposes. During the holidays you can find thousands and thousands of tourists trying to buy tickets and pay entrance fees to visit and enjoy the garden.

Important points for visitors of Eram Garden in Shiraz

One of the important points for visitors of Eram Garden in Shiraz is considering this traffic during holidays , especially in summers when masses of local tourists rush to the garden and try to find a way in the traffic jam of streets and crossing the entrances.
Sana Persian tour and travel service provider group is trying to provide you all the services you need in visiting Eram Garden in Shiraz.please do not hesitate to ask us anything about iran tourism on sanapersian site. We are waiting to visit you in Iran, Fars province, Shiraz and Eram Garden soon. Until then.