The Ali Qapu Gate (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: سردر عالی قاپو) is a historic gate in

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Located at the beginning of the Sepah street, it is one of the 7 gates leading to the

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

royal complex, and the only surviving one.

History

The gate was built by the order of Shah Tahmasb, as part of the larger royal complex that he commissioned after he moved the capital from

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

. It exists in its current form since the rule of Shah Abbas. There is calligraphy by Alireza Abbasi in

thuluth ''Thuluth'' (, ' or , '; , ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is an Arabic script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new script by curved and oblique lines. In ''Thuluth'', ...

script decorating the gate. It was the southern and the most important gate to the Safavid royal complex, leading to a group of palaces and pavilions, of which only Chehelsotun remains now.

Jean Chardin Jean Chardin (16 November 1643 – 5 January 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book ''The Travels of Sir John Chardin'' is regarded as one of the finest ...

describes the building as having an inscription reading "گشاده باد به دولت همیشه این درگاه به حق اشهد ان لا اله الا الله"سیر تاریخی بنای شهر قزوین و بناهای آن، دکترسید محمد دبیرسیاقی، صفحه ۴۹۳، انتشارات حدیث امروز با همکاری اداره کل میراث فرهنگی استان قزوین File:عالی قاپو عکاس میثم مظفری.jpg File:سردرعالی قاپو.jpg File:295A1970.jpg File:AliQapou.jpg

References

{{coord, 36.2657, 50.0031, type:landmark_region:IR, display=title Safavid architecture Gates Buildings and structures in Qazvin province Buildings and structures on the Iran National Heritage List