An Investigation of the Reflection of Sasanian Motifs in the Stucco Decoration of Bani Ameri’s Castle-like House

The decoration is one of the main foundations of architecture art. Ornamentation using plant motifs in different artistic ways has been a response to the human need for nature and its preservation in the environment. Hājiyābād Village in Varamin has been a tourism target. The village is located 25 kilometers east of the historical city of Varamin at the gate of the desert and has mansions dating back 400 years to the Zandieh and Qajar periods. One of these buildings is Bani-Ameri’s castle-like house which has been registered as the national monuments of Varamin. This monument is at the risk of being ruined. Lack of residence, abandonment, and lack of care and maintenance of the building have exacerbated the damage process and have destroyed one of the turrets. According to the owner of this building, this monument is 250 years old and belongs to the period of Fath Ali Shah Qajar and built based on Iranian-Islamic architecture (four-Ivans). The castle-like house is variously decorated by plant, animal, human, and geometric motifs.

The purpose of the research was to re-examine the identity of the stucco motifs in this mansion. To answer this question that which historical period has influenced the shape of stucco motifs in Bani-Ameri’s castle-like house, we carried out a field study in Hājiyābād Village in Varamin and we analyzed the decorations of stucco motifs of this building. Based on this assumption that the shapes of stucco motifs of this building had been influenced by the works in Sassanid, we examined to see if Bani Ameri’motifs correspond with the decorative motifs of the Sassanid period.

This historical study is descriptive-analytical in nature. We gathered the data from documents and observations to examine the extent to which decorations match the Sassanid tradition.

With regard to the strong historical background of architecture in Varamin, the relics belonging to the Sassanid period, and based on the studies and careful examination of motifs in the house-castle of Bani Ameri, we found significant similarities between the motifs of this house with those of the Sassanid period. Analyzing visual qualities, form, architectural technology, content, and symbolic meaning of the designs as well as the paintings of this house confirmed that the influence of the motifs from the art in the Sassanid period.