Chehel Sotun means forty columns, and the name is a lovely piece of exaggeration, since the pavilion has twenty slender wooden pillars and the other twenty are their reflections in the long pool in front. It stands in a royal garden in the middle of Isfahan, a few hundred metres from the great square Naqsh-e Jahan, and was built in the seventeenth century under the Safavid shah Abbas II, who used it for receptions and banquets. The tall entrance porch, with its cedar columns inlaid with mirror and painted ceiling, is the setting for a famous scene: a royal audience with ambassadors seated on cushions in the shade, looking out over fountains and trees.
Inside are enormous wall paintings in the Persian style, showing the shah at feasts and in battle, and the grand reception hall holds scenes of a victory over the Uzbeks and another over the Mughals, painted with such careful detail that you can study the costumes of both sides. Look for the smaller panels showing a more private world, of wine bearers and dancers in graceful poses. The palace burned in the eighteenth century, and some of the paintings were later restored or painted over, but the effect remains rich. It is one of the nine Persian Gardens listed by UNESCO.
Isfahan itself is a city of about one and a half million people and a joy to explore, with its covered bazaar, the Imam Mosque with its blue tiles, the Lotfollah Mosque and the old bridges over the Zayandeh river, which is sometimes dry, sometimes full, depending on the season. The city is flat, and the boulevards are lined with plane trees, but traffic is a challenge. Drivers are fast and flexible about lanes, motorbikes weave through gaps, and pedestrians cross anywhere. Ride defensively and expect surprises at roundabouts.
Parking near the garden is possible on side streets, and the entrance is inexpensive. Spring is the best season, when the roses are in flower and the days are mild. Summer is hot and dry, and winter can be cold and clear. There are fuel stations on every main road and a wide choice of restaurants, with Isfahani specialities such as beryani, a spiced minced-meat dish, and gaz, a nougat flavoured with pistachios and rose. Come in the late afternoon and you can sit by the pool as the sun lowers and the columns glow.