“Khan” historical bath, a jewel on the ring of Kashan historical bazaar

The most important historical complex of Kashan is its historical bazaar, which extends from the government gate to Darb Bagh neighborhood. In the historical complex of the bazaar, which has more than a thousand active rooms, in addition to the order of bazaars such as blacksmiths, upper bazaars, shoes, tailors, dyers, bazaars, goldsmiths and bazaars, Sardar Pankhel, researcher and rabbi There are valuable elements such as mosques, shrines, water reservoirs, inns and caravanserais, baths and numerous temples that have been built in different periods.

Kashan historical bazaar is very magnificent due to its beauty and excellent design and has attracted the attention and admiration of travelers and visitors to the city, as each of them has mentioned it with many definitions and descriptions, such as the author of the book “Zinat al-Majalis” who says: “Kashan Bazaar is not in the whole world and its length is about two thousand years old.”

During the reign of Shah Abbas I, in the middle of the Grand Bazaar, four elaborate bazaars called Qaisaria were built, consisting of several shops and excellent caravanserais with a beautiful style, which “Aboutaleb Sakhi”, one of the famous speakers of Kashan era, has given as follows:

“After the construction of the building, two beautiful events took place

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In successive travels of Shah Abbas I and his successors to that city, the Grand Bazaar and the square connected to it, was the first center of celebration and lighting and a place of night entertainment and royal feasts. As Sir Antoine Shirley, an Englishman who accompanied Kashan I on one of his travels to Kashan, describes such receptions in the bazaar: It is located in the middle of the city and it is a very beautiful place, we saw that the king and his servants are there and lit many torches and lit all around the square and the celebration and lighting was so glorious that we were all surprised. From there, detailed fireworks, etc. After this, they performed party readings with drums and horns.

The French “Tavernier” writes: “Kashan Bazaar is very beautiful and well-covered, the caravanserais are large and comfortable, especially one of them is very excellent, which is located near the garden of the government house.”

The author of Tazkereh Haft Iqlim also says: “Kashan’s souks are like the skirts of brides who eat a lot and are right to the sweetness and cleanliness of that city in all of Iran, but not in the urban world.”

Kashan Bazaar is undoubtedly one of the most active and beautiful historical bazaars in Iran, which is about 3 km long and covers an area of ​​10 hectares. Kashan historical bazaar dates back to the Albuyeh to Pahlavi era, which was registered in the list of national monuments on 08/06/1355 with the number 1284.

Bath Khan

One of the valuable buildings in this historical bazaar is “Khan” bath or “Raziqieh” bath, which is located in the middle of the main row of the bazaar and in the upper part of the bazaar.

“Khan” bath was built by the order and order of “Abdul Razzaq Khan Kashi” the ruler of Kashan and the brokerage of one of the trustees of Kashan named “Haj Ghiasuddin” in 1187 AH and during the Zandieh period. . AH (ie five years after the completion of the construction of the bath) resisted and despite the many and irreparable damage in Kashan, this building has been saved from destruction and destruction.

Hammam Khan is built on a land with an area of ​​1250 square meters and in three main parts: Sarbineh, Garmkhaneh and Chal Houz.

Sarbineh, which is the largest bathroom space, has rules of eight and a half and very close to a square. Eight stone columns also create a space in the middle of it, which is distinguished from other parts by a high formal arch. This is a brick arch with rational decorations, and the formal lines are made more distinctive with blue and white tile pieces.

Large skylights in the middle of this arch provide light to the ceiling, and the octagonal pool in the middle of the ceiling doubles the glow. A platform is located around the top, and as a result, the sitting and resting space is differentiated from the traffic space. In the four corners of this space, there are four pavilions with a base of half eight, each of which has its own pool.

These basins are located at the end of the stairs that connect the floor of Sarbineh to the surrounding platforms. Old tiles can still be seen in the plinths of Sarbineh, but the platforms around this space are covered with new tiles, which has impaired its spatial quality.

Also, the pools were all made of marble and like crystal garments, which today have been replaced by pools with blue tiles.

The middle is a space with a regular octagonal rule, which, by changing the direction of movement from the ceiling to the greenhouse, in addition to eliminating direct vision, reduces heat exchange between them. The greenhouse is a space with a rectangular base that is divided into three parts by four stone columns. The treasury is located at the end of the middle and warm part of the house in front of its entrance, which is now in ruins.

There are two spaces on either side of the treasury that may have been the greenhouse. One of these spaces has been added to the greenhouse today and showers have been installed in it. The greenhouse has a booth on one side, with a relatively large pool in front of it, a perfect space for washing. The challah pool space, which is not used today, has a rectangular pool.

The entrance to this space is through the door and there are booths next to the pond for the spectators to relax and sit.

The engraved images in this bathroom have the nature of a story that was painted in the sprays of the entrance porch. These paintings are related to images of “Khamseh Nezami” such as “Bahram Gore”, which according to the subject of the images It has a special place in the restoration projects related to the architecture-related decorations of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department of the city.

The restoration project of “Khan” bath decorations was started by one of the experienced professors of Kashan administration, Professor “Morteza Shabani” in November of this year and is still being implemented.

Restoration operations of these paintings include peeling, strengthening, cleaning, balancing the design and color, documenting and identifying and completing the design and role while maintaining the originality of the work in the deficient parts that are in the first stage of their restoration operations. Restoration experiments performed on other sprays. Similar images are buried under layers of plaster, which will be restored and restored after exfoliation by experts.

Khan historical bath has been registered in the list of national monuments of Iran on March 16, 2000, number 3627.

* Report from Seyed Mostafa Morooj, Public Relations Manager of Kashan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department