Khaju Bridge

Khaju was built around 1650 under Shah Abbas II on the foundations of an earlier crossing, and it does more than carry a road: sluice gates between its lower arches let it work as a weir, holding water upstream to raise the level through the city, so the structure is bridge, dam and public building at once. There are two arcaded levels with alcoves, stepped terraces down to the water where people sit, and an octagonal pavilion at the centre that was reserved for the shah. Traces of painted decoration survive in the vaults. Like Si-o-se-pol it is a social space, busiest in the evening, with singing in the arches, though the drying of the Zayanderud has taken away the pooled water it was built to make.

History

The bridge was built around 1650 in the reign of Abbas II, the seventh Safavid shah, on the foundations of an older bridge, and its inscriptions suggest it was repaired in 1873; the pavilion at its centre is where Abbas II would have sat to admire the view. The art historians Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman are buried in a mausoleum nearby (Wikipedia, Khaju Bridge).

The main sights

• Sluice gates in the arches - the bridge working as a weir.
• The central octagonal pavilion - the shah's room over the water.
• Stepped terraces to the water - where people sit in the evening.
• Painted vault decoration - traces surviving in the arcades.

When to go

March to May and September to November, in the evening when the bridge is lit and used. One to two hours. Whether there is water depends on releases upstream and is unpredictable.

Good to know

The river is often dry, which removes the pooled reflection the bridge was designed around. Evenings are crowded. The pavilion interior is not always open. There is no interpretation on site.

Nearby

Si-o-se-pol is upstream; the Armenian quarter of Jolfa lies south of the river.

Key facts