Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

xLi ARCHITECTURE 509
architecture. A second feature was the number of
square
rooms, vaulted with domes and opening one into another.
A court was an invariable feature, as in modern Persia, and
nowhere was there a second
storey. The decoration was
carried out by means of arched recesses, cornices, and
pilasters, much as at Hatra.
Internally stucco and painting
were employed.
The Firuzabad Palace.—To the south-east of Shiraz
on one of the two routes
leading to Bushire is situated
Firuzabad, the earliest existing Sasanian palace, which is
believed to date from the middle of the third
century a.d.
or even earlier. The ground plan is an
oblong measuring
320 feet by 170 feet with a single entrance consisting of
a fine arch, opening into a vaulted hall 90 feet long by
feet wide. On either side of this noble feature are
43
lesser halls similar in character. Beyond these principal
chambers were three square rooms surmounted by elliptical
brick domes, which are the earliest extant example of the
dome^ in Persia. These apartments, with their ornamented
doorways and false windows, led into small rooms
opening on to a large court some ninety feet square,
round which were built rooms of various sizes. The
external ornamentation consisted of high narrow arches
and reed-like pilasters which gave a simple and decidedly
severe character to the whole pile, not, however, out of
keeping with its fortified character. Not far from
Firuzabad is Sarvistan, another palace of a somewhat later
date, which, however, bears a close relationship
to the
older palace.
The Tak-i-Kisra.—The famous "Arch of Khusru " ^
which move4 the wonder of the Arabs so deeply,
as will
be seen in Chapter XLIL, is unfortunately now but a
fragment. But we still have the superb vaulted hall
spanning 25*80 metres, in which the Great King, seated
on his golden throne, showed himself to his subjects.
Even in its decay this vast Audience Hall has excited the
1 "The History and Evolution of the Dome in Persia," by K. A. C. Creswell
{Journal R.A.S., July 19 14).
It is now generally accepted that Firuzabad is older than
Sarvistan, although at one time the contrary opinion prevailed.
2
It is termed the Aywan or Tak-i-Kisra, the former being the older form. The
meaning
of both words is the same.