Angela Ballard – Master Gardener
In ancient Pasargadae, located in modern-day Iran, lie the ruins of an age-old paradise. Built for King Cyrus the Great, who ruled from 559-530 BCE, the gardens were created to provide an oasis from the pervasive desert heat. They featured trees and trellises to create shade, along with pavilions and walls to block the hot sun. The gardens also harnessed the power of water, using underground tunnels to transport it from local aquifers to the gardens’ wells, irrigation ditches, and reflecting pools.
The gardens of Pasargadae were so lovely they were referred to as pairidaēza, which became the word paradise in English, paradeis in German, and paradis in French, all of which refer to a lush and idyllic environment.
Similar to the biblical Garden of Eden, the highest level of heaven in Muslim is called Firdause. Both are said to be lush gardens that were watered by four rivers or a single river divided into four channels. Both ancient and modern Persian gardens are designed following this principle, featuring a walled, geometric layout that is divided into quarters by four aqueducts or channels.
While none of the plantings remain, the archaeological artifacts of the ancient Pasargadae gardens, which include King Cyrus’s tomb, are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site located just northeast of Shiraz, Iran. And the aforementioned Garden of Eden is thought to be found at Bagh-e-Eram, or Eram Garden, in Shiraz itself.
Other ancient Persian gardens still thriving in Iran include the Prince’s Garden (Bagh-e-Shahzadeh) in Mahan, Golestan National Park near the Caspian Sea, Bagh-e-Fin in Kashan, Bagh-e-El-Goli in Tabriz, and Bagh-e-Golshan in Tabas.
Notice the word bagh keeps popping up? It means garden in the Persian language of Farsi. In fact, the name of Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad has its roots in bagh and daad: “the garden of justice.”
In addition to the gardens of Iran, the ancient gardens of Pasargadae have influenced many other famous gardens around the world, including the Taj Mahal gardens in India, the gardens of Versailles in France, Butchart Gardens in Canada, and Al-Andalus in Spain.