Re-introducing historical water structures in Yazd Vaght o Saat square

The vaght o saat Square is one of the well-known squares of the Yazd World Heritage Site. Although the most prominent and most well-known aspects of this square are the the clock and the old observatory in the eighth century, But the historical and architectural values of this square are not limited to this aspects. One of the interesting points in the historical background and physical values of this square is the very strong bond between the elements and the architectural elements surrounding it with the structures and installations of water, which is the main subject of the present article. The motivation to start this research is the historical information that the author encountered while conducting studies for an executive project on the square when, in the process of studying and indentifying the historical background of the square, through verbal sources and interviewing the old residents of the area and the neighborhood of Vaght o saat square. In this process valuable information was obtained about the presence of elements and installations relating to water in the old square, which unfortunately are not present in the current landscape of the square. This was a motivation to complete the information by referring to written sources as well as visual documents and field surveys to verify verbal sources. The research methodology is descriptive-analytical in order to understand the unknown dimensions of the Vaght o saat square in relation to the subject of water and its related historical structures. The results of this study indicate that the location of this square in the center of the historical fabric of Yazd city and at the intersection of several historical ghanats has caused the water element have a great presence in the square’s general landscape. And this is one of the prominent features of this historic square. From this place, there are accesses to three important Qanats of city of Yazd: Qanat Zarch, Ghanat elah-abad and Ghanat-e-waqf-Abad, and the square has been linked to these ghanats through installations such as the water reservoir and payabs. Nevertheless, none of these elements are currently present in the public and cultural landscapes of the square, and all are buried or hidden, despite being important evidences of the historical, social and cultural background of the square. The issue should be taken into consideration in square rehabilitation plans in order to strengthen the historic landscape of the square and identify and exploit these elements optimally.