Ganjali Khan Complex

Ganjali Khan governed Kerman under Shah Abbas I and between about 1596 and 1621 built a complete civic complex around a square in the middle of the bazaar: a bathhouse, a caravanserai, a mint, a school, a mosque, a water cistern and a covered bazaar street, all conceived together. The bathhouse is the best known part, its domed chambers now holding an ethnographic museum with wax figures in the hot and cold rooms and painted vaults above, and the mint holds a coin collection. The square itself, with a pool and plane trees, is a rare piece of deliberate Safavid urban planning outside Isfahan, and the bazaar streets running off it are still fully in use for spices, copper and carpets.

History

The complex was built by Ganj Ali Khan, who governed Kerman, Sistan and Kandahar from 1596 to 1621 under Abbas the Great; inscriptions inside record when each part was built, and its architect was Mohammad Soltani of Yazd (Wikipedia, Ganjali Khan Complex).

The main sights

• The domed bathhouse - painted vaults, now an ethnographic museum.
• A planned Safavid square - pool and trees at the centre of the complex.
• The mint and its coin collection - the building where money was struck.
• Working bazaar streets - spices, copper and carpets around the square.

When to go

March to May and October to November. Two to three hours for the square and its buildings. The bazaar is liveliest in the late afternoon and closes around midday on Fridays.

What to expect

Buildings are individually ticketed. The bathhouse wax figures are dated and unconvincing. Some parts are closed for restoration. Kerman gets few foreign visitors, so English interpretation is very limited.

Nearby

The Kerman bazaar runs off the square; Shazdeh Garden lies east toward Mahan.

Key facts