Hasht Behesh Iran

The royal palace of Hasht Behesht, dominating the superb Bagh-e Bolbol ("Garden of Nightingale"), dates from 1660 and is the most remarkable construction of Shah Soleiman Safavid. Its style is akin to that of the palaces of Shah Abbas If, but here the familiar techniques have their greatest impact.

At the height of its glory, the palace ranked among the world's most remarkable buildings and was described in exalted terms by most European visitors. The palace was greatly refashioned under Fathali Shah Qajar in the 19th century. Since then, the present name of the palace, standing for "Eight Paradises". was given to the site. Some authorities maintain that the palace was originally called Hesht-e Behesht, meaning "The Anteroom of Paradise". perhaps named so for a stunning sumptuousness rivaled only by that of the heavenly world. More whimsical accounts ascribe the derivation of the name to the time, when the palace was inhabited by Zel ai-Sultan, Fathall Shah's Son.

He is said to have kept in this palace eight favorite concubines, whose beauty could have only been compared with that of angels of paradise.