Kāshān

Kashan lies in a narrow oasis between the Karkas mountains and the great desert of central Iran. The spring at nearby Fin supplies water to gardens and settlements along the mountain foot. South of the city, the ancient mounds of Sialk bear witness to habitation reaching back thousands of years. Kashan itself grew into an important Islamic town, renowned for its crafts and the markets that linked the desert edge to the Iranian plateau.

Medieval Kashan became celebrated for fine pottery and lustre-painted tiles. Its potters worked with a hard, light-coloured body made largely of ground silica, and their wares travelled far beyond the town. The city's name became associated with glazed tilework in Persian and Arabic. After the Mongol destruction of 1224, ceramic production revived, and under the Ilkhanids workshops continued to make decorated vessels and architectural tiles.

Under the Safavids Kashan reached a new height of prosperity. Shah Abbas I favoured the city and developed the royal gardens at Fin, where spring water filled pools and fountains. The court often stopped there on journeys between its residences, and the shah chose to be buried in Kashan after his death in 1629. The oasis remained a place where royal patronage, commerce and skilled craftsmanship met at the edge of the desert.