The Palace Itself Is A Tawdry,
Gimcrack-Looking Edifice, All Looking-Glass And Vermilion And Green
Paint In The Worst Possible Taste.
From the entrance-hall an arched
doorway leads into the principal apartment, a lofty chamber about
ninety feet long by fifty broad, its walls covered with large
paintings representing the acts of the various Persian kings.
Shah
Abbas is portrayed under several conditions. In one scene he is
surrounded by a band of drunken companions and dancing-girls, in
costumes and positions that would hardly pass muster before our Lord
Chamberlain. This room once contained the most beautiful and costly
carpet in all Persia, but it has lately been sold "for the good of the
State," and a dirty green drugget laid down in its place. In one of
the side chambers are pictures representing ladies and gentlemen in
the costume of Queen Elizabeth's time. How they got to Ispahan I was
unable to discover. They are very old, and evidently by good masters.
The way back to our comfortable quarters at Djulfa lay over the
Zandarood river. There are five bridges, the principal one being that
of Allaverdi Khan, named after one of the generals of Shah Abbas, who
superintended its construction. It is of solid stonework, and built in
thirty-three arches, over which are ninety-nine smaller arches
above the roadway on both sides, enclosing a covered-in pathway for
foot-passengers. The roadway in the centre, thirty feet wide, is well
paved with stone, and perfectly level.
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