The Persian Garden

Nine gardens in nine provinces make the case that paradise was a Persian invention. Rooted in principles reaching back to Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC, each is divided into four sectors with water for irrigation and delight, symbolising Eden and the four elements of Zoroastrian belief: sky, earth, water and plants. Their pavilions, walls and refined irrigation shaped garden art as far away as India and Spain. The Persian Garden was inscribed by UNESCO in 2011.