Khanah-i Burujirdi

Kashan, Iran

The Burujirdi House is a historic mansion dating to the Qajar period located in Kashan, just north of the citadel at the southern end of the historic city. An inscription dates the beginning of its construction to 1875-1876/1292 AH, and it was most likely completed some years later in 1892-1893/1310 AH. Its patron was Hajj Sayyid Ja'far Natanzi, who also had the nickname Burujirdi, as he imported goods from the city of Burujird. Reportedly, over 150 craftsmen worked on the home, which includes elaborate carved and painted decorations in a variety of media.

The house takes the form of a rectangular enclosure oriented roughly north-south, accessed from the street through an iwan-portal and a series of entrance chambers aligned in the form of a corridor. The main enclosure comprises a central rectangular courtyard and complexes of interior rooms at its northern and southern end.

After passing through the series of entrance halls leading from the street, one emerges onto a platform on the northern end of the central court. The court is longer than it is wide and has a narrow rectangular pool in the center, flanked on either side by two rectangular garden plots. 

The aforementioned platform on the court's northern end is flanked on its north side by a covered reception hall (talar). This talar opens onto the platform through five wooden doors. Flanking the platform on the east and west are two sitting rooms with triple windows overlooking the courtyard (seh-dari). The reception hall rises to a higher height than the two side rooms. A wind scoop in the form of a tower (badgir) rises above this building and serves to ventilate it.

The long east and west sides of the courtyard are lined with more sitting rooms and covered nooks. These sides only rise to the height of one story. 

The complex at the southern end of the courtyard is the most important in the house. The facade is formed by a double-height iwan opening onto the courtyard flanked by side rooms on two stories. Surmounting the iwan is a gable decorated extensively with carved stucco. A large dome rises behind it. The iwan and adjoining rooms are situated above ground level, and are accessed via two thin flights of stairs flanking the iwan to the east and west. A broad staircase under the iwan's central arch descends from the courtyard pavement to a basement (sardab) below the iwan.

Behind the iwan is a large domed reception hall in the form of a rectangle with angled corners (hasht-u-nim-hasht). Two sitting rooms flank this large central chamber on the east and west, and a sitting area reserved for special guests (shah-nishin) flanks the main chamber on the southern side.

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