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Chasing The Unexpected

Adventure Travel Blog - Chasing The Unexpected

You are here: Home / Destinations / Middle East / Iran / A glimpse on Iran’s private space: the Abbasian House in Kashan

November 12, 2011 By Angela Corrias 50 Comments

A glimpse on Iran’s private space: the Abbasian House in Kashan

Welcome to Kashan

Before getting to beautiful Abyaneh, the NGO that invited me to Iran, planned a stop in Kashan, ancient oasis city dating back to the 4th century BC that offers to visitors the priceless view of typical desert architecture. At about 228km away from Tehran, Kashan is a must-stop as it gives the great opportunity to take a peek on Iran’s private side by visiting a local house.

The very entrance of the house

Kashan’s architectural style perfectly adapts to its surroundings: the mountain range creates a red boundary on one side, while the desert on the other side gives the environment its typical warm colors, widely used for decorating the city. With this in mind, we dared invading the privacy of the Abbasian tribe by visiting their huge residence.

The beautiful courtyard near the entrance

This house, obviously belonging to a wealthy family, was built around a courtyard, and its windows, doors and arches look at the inside instead of the outside.

The residence was built keeping the four seasons in mind, so the underground floors had the purpose to soothe the summer’s extreme desert heat, while the winter was spent on the south of the house, to allow its dwellers to enjoy the daylight as much as possible.

In front of the house, already inside

The construction is actually not ancient, less than 200 years old, and the first thing visitors will notice is its majesty. The huge first, very well preserved, courtyard was devoted to welcome guests. The big pool in the middle and the finely decorated garden made it for a delightful view.

The ceiling inside the house

At the house we had a local guide but we were also free to wander around as we pleased, which gave me the time to take all the photos I wanted.

The daylight was slowly fading away and still no muezzin was on background.I started wondering whether he was not audible from where we were, which  would have sounded very strange for a religious society, or if I was getting used to him already after a couple of days in Iran.

At the mosque, time for prayer

From my visit to Istanbul, I’ve always had a good memory of the muezzin, even at 4am I almost longed for his suggestive lament, so now I didn’t understand how he could go unnoticed.

To my relief, though, I soon learned I wasn’t that wrong, and after leaving the Abbasian family to what could have been their evening chores, we headed to the mosque for the last prayer of the day.

Filed Under: Iran

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marie says

    November 12, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    Oh la merveille! Quelles photos et quel texte! ADMIRATION!!!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 13, 2011 at 5:26 pm

      Merci, c’est bien une merveille!

      Reply
  2. Domenico says

    November 12, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Fotografie stupende, correlate da un ottimo e suggestivo commento! Complimenti

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 13, 2011 at 5:25 pm

      Grazie! Bellissimo da visitare!

      Reply
  3. Dean says

    November 12, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    What incredible architecture! I would love to live in a house like that.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 13, 2011 at 5:24 pm

      By all means make it to Iran, beautiful country to visit!

      Reply
  4. Sarah Wu says

    November 13, 2011 at 6:41 am

    The architecture are so beautiful. I especially love the shape and the patterns.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 13, 2011 at 5:23 pm

      Very beautiful indeed, warm colors and typical from the desert areas :)

      Reply
  5. Muza-chan says

    November 13, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Beautiful photos :)

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 13, 2011 at 9:40 pm

      Thanks dear :)

      Reply
  6. Sophie says

    November 14, 2011 at 1:12 am

    What an entrance; so gorgeous! I have a Kashan carpet on my floor. It’s one of the most beautiful things in my house.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 7:26 am

      Persian carpets are very precious, they have a great taste decorating their houses, the desert architecture was very beautiful.

      Reply
  7. Kirsten says

    November 14, 2011 at 5:36 am

    Beautiful photographs!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 7:25 am

      Thanks :)

      Reply
  8. Cam says

    November 14, 2011 at 7:09 am

    Stunning!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 7:24 am

      Indeed, beautiful views in Kashan.

      Reply
  9. Sherry says

    November 14, 2011 at 11:23 am

    I especially like the courtyard for its indoor/outdoor fuctionality for the home. Plus I think it adds a little bit more aesthetics. But this home already seems so beautifully crafted. It shows how much the owners cared for every detail, even the weather.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 5:17 pm

      Yes, everything taken care of, pity there was no furniture, would have loved to see some to understand more of their lifestyle.

      Reply
  10. zahra dn says

    November 14, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    wow ! my god ! Very beautiful …

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 5:15 pm

      Thanks dear, I bet you like it ;)

      Reply
  11. Jenna says

    November 14, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Wonderful photos! I love this style of architecture. Such intricate design and graceful

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 5:15 pm

      Thanks Jenna, very beautiful indeed :)

      Reply
  12. Cathy Sweeney says

    November 14, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    How interesting that you were able to be able to visit a local house. And quite a house it is! Beautiful. Great photos.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 14, 2011 at 10:00 pm

      Thanks Cathy, it was very interesting, I always find that visiting private places reveals more of a country than its national moments (yet interesting!). I would have loved to stay more in Kashan and also Abyaneh, maybe next time :)

      Reply
  13. Turtle says

    November 15, 2011 at 2:48 am

    Love the photos! It looks amazing!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 15, 2011 at 8:19 am

      Thanks Michael :)

      Reply
  14. Abby says

    November 15, 2011 at 3:43 am

    It’s fascinating how much you can do with materials to make homes more efficient. Your photos are so beautiful and exciting!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 15, 2011 at 8:18 am

      True, it’s truly spirit of adaptation to any place, society and weather conditions :)

      Reply
  15. vadoud says

    November 15, 2011 at 11:02 am

    these are really gorgeous …. i advice all of you to visit other cultural cities of iran like Tabriz….. its fantastic……for example its architecture faculty is an old historid place which renovated and allready is being used just like a peace of heaven as decent faculty……just see it :

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 17, 2011 at 7:29 pm

      Thanks for commenting Vadoud, beautiful pictures, for sure I would love to visit all the rest of Iran, so many cities and interesting sites to explore!

      Reply
  16. MJ says

    November 15, 2011 at 11:54 am

    I live in Iran and it’s great to see there’s such enthusiasm in Iranian art and culture. I have a small survey on Persian rugs I’d appreciate it if you guys could give me your feedback http://questionpro.com/t/AHbKiZL1GV

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 17, 2011 at 7:09 pm

      Thanks MJ, I will have a look at your survey, I absolutely loved Iran and its huge culture :)

      Reply
  17. Mohammad says

    November 16, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Dear Angela
    i published your photos at my website that is dedicated for introducing different aspect of Iran (Persia)
    and i appreciate you if you have any special memory or photos from your trip to Iran to share with us , or even your point of view in general

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 17, 2011 at 6:45 pm

      Thanks Mohammad, great website you have!

      Reply
  18. Abi says

    November 17, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    It reminds me so much of the Moorish buildings in Andalucia…Beautiful. I really want to visit…

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      November 17, 2011 at 6:45 pm

      True, very beautiful architecture in Andalusia, at the end it’s always the same, collaboration of styles gives the best results :)

      Reply
  19. alireza says

    December 3, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    These photos are really beautiful! I think your camera is different of all! It shows the masterpeaces as they are … or more beautiful!
    It shows that your point of view is really good.
    Thaks sister Angella!

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      December 4, 2011 at 10:37 pm

      Thanks a lot Alireza for bringing the group to such a beautiful place :)

      Reply
  20. Ali Reda says

    December 20, 2011 at 9:09 am

    Beautiful, ur a fantastic photographer

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      December 20, 2011 at 9:11 am

      Thanks, I try :)

      Reply
  21. Amy says

    January 14, 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Wow! What a house! The architecture is amazing.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      January 17, 2012 at 9:40 am

      True, it’s beautiful, typical desert architecture.

      Reply
  22. Melin says

    April 5, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    Hi
    i think peaple in the world dont know enough about Iran , join us please in facebook
    http://facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&fc=0&id=271903519558137

    Reply
  23. Melin says

    April 5, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    Join us to see more
    http://facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&fc=0&id=271903519558137

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      April 5, 2012 at 3:11 pm

      Thanks for the link, just joined you :)

      Reply
  24. Hajy says

    April 12, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    The architecture of the desert is not Correct, you must tell Islamic architecture. Grateful

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      April 12, 2012 at 7:28 pm

      It’s obviously Islamic architecture, but actually the definition of desert architecture is correct, in fact some of the devices were designed because of the desert climate, such as the badgirs.

      Reply
  25. Susan says

    August 7, 2012 at 7:05 am

    Hi Angela! Considering I have 25 tabs open, I’m unsure how I found your blog at this point, but I think it was through Twitter. I am totally stunned by these photos. The beauty of the house and architecture is breathtaking! I’ve longed to visit Iran, but it doesn’t seem feasible in the short-term.

    Reply
    • Angela Corrias says

      August 7, 2012 at 11:41 am

      Hi Susan! Thanks for stopping by, I’m glad you found my site so at the same time I found yours! Iran is certainly a big worthy destination, very much unearthed and full of gems to discover!

      Reply
  26. Mohsen says

    November 7, 2015 at 8:01 am

    nice photos , amusing explanation . thanks for visiting my country .

    Reply

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