The garden that became a street

Being able to benefit from natural resources, Māzandarān has been historically known as an appropriate place for making gardens in the past centuries. This region became a significant place for hunting for spending the winter time during the period of Shah Abbas Safavi, when numerous gardens were built in these areas. Therefore, multiple gardens were built in Sari, the political center of that period, which are currently abandoned for not being acknowledged and consequently due to ignorance, erosion, urbanization and integration of gardens and cities and their functional changes. Few traces of Māzandarān gardens are found today and no extensive researches on these gardens are studied. Deep understanding of demolished Māzandarān gardens and recognition of their prevailing pattern can intensively help us understand the manmade landscape and lead into a major step forward in recognition of Iranian garden. This study aims at recognition and finding of the structural pattern of Shah (king) garden in Sari based on historical documents and field investigations. In this regard, historical documents, texts and statements of travelers about the garden were put into scrutiny and the garden structures was discussed in the next step based on historical photographs. Having analyzed and drawn the probable outlining plan of the garden on the basis of historical documents and principles of Iranian gardens, it can be indicated that the Shah garden had a regular geometric structure with two main interfacial building across the main axe of the garden. Following the made interventions during the first Pahlavi period, the current Khayyam Street was created in line with the main axe of the garden and turned into a major urban street. This was completed by different constructions along the double sides of the garden axis by people and finally formation of residential neighborhoods of old Shah garden in this part of the city.