During the Ghajar era, as the city progressed and expanded, this garden remained connected to the Chahar Monar Gate and outside the city's borders. As more time passed, urban structures began growing around the garden and ended up placing the Dolat Abad Garden in the center of the city.
The Dolat Abad Garden became registered as a national heritage site under the registration number of 774 on March 13th, 1968. Consequently, back in 2011, the Dolat Abad Garden, alongside 9 other Persian gardens, became registered as a world heritage site under the registration number of 1372.
The structural analysis of the garden:
Functionally speaking, the Dolat Abad Garden used to serve as a residential-governmental construction. In a sense that the exterior garden served as the suitable space for holding governmental ceremonies, sport conventions, and administrative procedures, whereas the interior garden used to be a private residential sector.
It is worth mentioning that the residential-governmental gardens usually had their exterior and interior sections completely separated from one another. In many cases, guard forces were appointed to supervise both.
The renovation history of the Dolat Abad Garden:
Since the ruler of the city of Yazd had dwelled in the Dolat Abad Garden, it also served as the point of reception for the government officials travelling to Yazd. One of the most important guests of this garden was Karim Khan-e-Zand. He entered Yazd in 1758, accompanied with 40000 armed forces, and stayed there for 40 days.
The Dolat Abad Garden's era of prosperity ended with Mohammad Taghi Khan's death. Although every single part of the garden has been renovated ever since, the glory of the bygone days never returned to the garden. The first round of renovation of the Dolat Abad Garden was done during the Ghajar era, under the rule of Mohammad Vali Mirza, who was Yazd's ruler at the time.
The wind tower (wind catcher) of the anteroom mansion has been damaged several times throughout history. In 1942, as an attempt to prevent the destruction of the upper part of the structure, it was demolished from the wind tower's gap upward. The Ministry of Arts and Culture of Iran rented this garden from the Office of Public Endowments from 1970 until 1986 and gave the rights to its administration to the Bureau of the Protection of Historical Artifacts. Afterwards, at the order of the late Ayatollah Sadoughi and under the supervision of the Guardian Council, the administration rights of the garden were attributed to Mirza Ali Moez-al-Dini, a successor belonging to the sixth generation following the Great Mohammad Taghi Khan.
The technical office of the National Organization of the Protection of Historical Artifacts began a round of renovations in 1970. By then, over 50 percent of the surrounding mansions of the garden had been damaged, destroyed or deserted. During this round of renovations, different parts of the garden, including its wind tower, became renovated and repaired. The majestic wooden structures of the wind tower mansion, including the famous Orsi door ornamented with colorful glass window pieces, got renovated by Master Abbas Mojaver and Master Abouei to add to the exemplary beauty of the structure. The delicate roof designs of the vestibule were also done masterfully by Master Haj Ali Akbar Khorrami.
The Dolat Abad Qanat (Aqueduct):
According to the endowment scripture of the garden, the Dolat Abad Qanat originated from a region located 35 kilometers from the southwestern region of Yazd, close to a suburban city named Mehriz. In fact, a number of qanat branches merged into one in Mehriz, allowing the water to travel for 35 kilometers before reaching Yazd. This would first be used by the inhabitants of the Abshahi and Khorramshah neighborhoods of Yazd and would reach the Dolat Abad Garden afterwards.
Historical records and archeological research have shown that the Dolat Abad Qanat dates back to the Al-e-Mozafar era (14th century). It was then purchased and revived by Mohammad Taghi Khan. He expanded the length of the qanat to irrigate the garden and changed its name from Abshahi to Dolat Abad. The current length exceeds 70 kilometers.
The Different Components of the Garden:
The Dolat Abad Garden and its components only came about after the creation of the Dolat Abad Qanat. Below is a list of the different components of the garden: 1) The Hashti Mansion (Wind Tower Mansion) 2) The Tanabi Mansion (the Harem) 3) The Behesht Aein Mansion 4) Divan Khaneh 5) The Ayeneh Mansion 6) The Sar-Dar Mansion 7) Pool 8) Ab-Anbar (Water Reservoir) 9) The Tehrani Mansion 10) Camel House 11) Stable Aside from the main buildings, there are some side buildings in the eastern wing including the water reservoir, the refreshment room, the kitchen, the water well, and the water equipment used for providing enough water to fill the garden's pools during dry seasons. The Dolat Abad complex includes a number of practical constructions that had been built with specific architectural characteristics to fulfill the different needs of its residents back in the day.
The Hashti (Vestibule) or The Wind Tower Mansion:
This mansion is located at the end of the main orbit of the garden and is connected to the southern wall. The Hashti mansion possesses three big rooms and a pool room (made of uncut marble) in the middle. Its structure resembles the structure of other Iranian main rooms. It has a hall and a terrace on its upper floor. In fact, this mansion is considered to be the main building of the garden and is very famous for its notably tall wind tower. This wind tower stands with its 33 meters and 80 centimeters height and is the tallest wind tower in Iran. This wind tower was renovated back in the 70s. The wind tower possesses eight entrance passages for the winds. The cold air of the outside enters through four passages while the hot air of the interiors exits through the other four. This is how a pleasant temperature permeates the room in the summer.
The Sar-Dar Mansion:
This mansion is located in front of the Behesht-Aein Mansion in the utmost northern region of the garden. It is connected to the garden's outer wall and used to face Jolo Khan Square. The actual name of this building is the Northern Sar-Dar Mansion and it actually is the entrance to the Behesht-Aein Garden .
The Tanabi Mansion:
Located on the west of the Hashti Mansion, this majestic and huge building possesses a square-shaped wind tower and faces the garden. On either side of the Tanabi Mansion, different halls, terraces, and roofs, the doors of which open to the Tanabi, can be seen on a single story. Under the Tanabi, a huge basement has been carved. This basement is connected to the garden with two stairs and is connected to the lower part of the wind tower through a corridor in its southern part.
The Behesht-Aein Mansion:
Located in the shared border between the interior and exterior gardens, the two-story Behesht-Aein Mansion, also known as the most central mansion of the garden, stands. It consisted of a gate, a vestibule, a big room facing the east, a few small rooms facing the north and south, and a few corridors.
The Ayeneh Mansion:
This mansion is located in the southwest wing of the exterior garden and served as the reception space for special guests and governmental ceremonies. According to the text of the garden's endowment scripture, this mansion contained a hall filled with mirror works and Islamic arts. Currently, there is no sign of these ornamental elements. The name of the mansion is also taken from its mirror works (in Persian, Ayeneh means mirror).
Divan Khaneh:
According to the text of the garden's endowment scripture, the Divan Khaneh building served as a space to provide civil services to the public. It was located within the exterior garden and next to the Ayeneh Mansion. Through time, it got deteriorated and nowadays, there is no sign of it whatsoever.
The Tehrani Mansion:
This mansion is located within the exterior garden and on front of the Ayeneh Mansion in the north wing. In the jargon of Iranian architecture, buildings facing the sun were well-known as "Tehrani Mansions". This mansion contains two entrance passages, one opens to the exterior garden and the other is located in the back of the mansion.
The Ab-Anbar (The Underground Water Reservoir):
The Ab-Anbar is located in the north wing of the interior garden and contains two entrance passages, one facing the interior garden and the other facing the exterior one next to the Tehrani Mansion. This Ab Anbar fed from the branches of the Dolat Abad Qanat.
The Pool:
The big pool of the interior garden is positioned in parallel with the vestibule and the Behesht Aein mansion. Its length exceeds 200 meters and it contains a number of fountains in regular space intervals. In the late 90s, this pool was created through eliminating the earthworks that used to grow different plants strengthening the quality of the soil.
The Stable:
The stable is located in the southeastern wing of the garden on the right side of the southern entrance gate. The stable includes two separate regions, one was used in the summer and the other in the winter. The summer section has no roof and has a space for tying up the animals all around. The winter section has a roof and also contains a space for tying up the animals so they wouldn't escape.
The Camel House:
This part is located in front of the stable in the southeastern wing of the garden. It includes a roofed corridor that used to be utilized as a resting lounge for the camels.