The poet of the garden
Saadi, who wrote the Golestan, the Rose Garden, rests in a quiet complex in Shiraz. A first tomb was commissioned in the 13th century by the vizier Shams al-Din Juvayni. It was later destroyed, and a brick and plaster mausoleum replaced it under Karim Khan Zand.
The building today
The present building was designed by the architect Mohsen Foroughi and built between 1950 and 1952. From outside it is a cube, and inside it is an octagon with marble walls, topped by a blue dome and a turquoise-tiled arch. A small octagonal fish pond lies beside it, and verses of Saadi are carved on the walls.
Visiting
Saadi’s words are known to every Iranian, and a line from the Golestan hangs over the entrance of the United Nations in New York. Read more about Saadi.
