Tomb of Saadi

One of the famous and unforgettable places of Shiraz is Tomb of Saadi which is a building with a combination of new and old architectural art and is situated in the middle of a beautiful garden. Persiana Travel and Tourism Agency invites you to read this article to get familiar with Tomb of Saadi.

About Tomb of Saadi

Saadi’s tomb, known as Saadiya, is the residence and burial place of Saadi, a prominent Persian poet. Tomb of Saadi is located at the end of Bustan Street and next to Delgosha Garden at the foot of the mountain in the northeast of Shiraz. Around Saadi’s tomb, there are many graves of religious leaders who are buried there according to their will. One of the most important of them is Shourideh Shirazi, whose tomb is connected to Saadi’s tomb by a porch.

The Tomb of Saadi Shirazi was registered in the National Monuments Association on November 11, 1974 with the registration number 1010/3. Five hundred Rial bronze coins of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been decorated with the role of Saadi’s tomb since 2008 and also since 2010, 100 thousand Rials banknotes with the role of Saadi’s tomb were printed on the back.

In different corners of Tomb of Saadi, you can see poems of him which has been written on tablets. In the 7 corners of Tomb of Saadi, you can see handwritten inscriptions on which verses of Saadi are written. Poems taken from the books of Bustan and Golestan of Saadi.

History of Tomb of Saadi

Tomb of Saadi was originally Saadi Monastery where he spent the rest of his life and then he was buried there. For the first time in the seventh century by Shamsuddin Mohammad Sahib Divani, the famous minister of Aqa Khan, a tomb was built for Saadi. According to Ibn Battuta, (written about thirty-five years after Saadi’s death and is the oldest surviving report about Tomb of Saadi), people who visiting Tomb of Saadi washed their clothes in marble pools. People of Shiraz beilived that washing clothes in this water was healing.

In 1590, by the order of Yaqub Zolghadr, the ruler of Fars, the Saadi’s Monastery was destroyed and no trace of it remained. In the year 1773. By the order of Karim Khan Zand, a building, known as a royal mansion made of plaster and brick, was built on top of Saadi’s tomb. The lower floor of Tomb of Saadi had a corridor from where the stairs to the second floor started.

There were two chairs on both sides of this corridor in Tomb of Saadi. In the room to the east of the corridor was Saadi’s tomb, surrounded by a wooden mausoleum. The western part of the corridor of Tomb of Saadi, parallel to the eastern part, consisted of two rooms, which were later buried in the western room of the blind Shirazi poet, Shurideh Shirazi.

During the Qajar period (1922) Tomb of Saadi was restored by Fath Ali Khan Sahib Divan, and a few years later Habibullah Khan Qawam al-Mulk ordered the repair and restoration of a part of the Tomb of Saadi. In 1950 by Ali Asghar Hekmat and the National Art Association of Iran, the current building of Tomb of Saadi was built instead of the old building and its official opening ceremony was held in May 1952. The current Tomb of Saadi was built by Mohsen Foroughi which was inspired from the Forty-Columns Palace and a combination of old and new Iranian architecture.

Architecture of Tomb of Saadi

The general plan of the Tomb of Saadi, which is located in the middle of a large garden, includes a columned hall and a high porch, which is located in the shape of the letter L and the construction work was completed in 1952. Upon entering Tomb of Saadi, which is decorated with a poem by Saadi, a large area with a lot of trees can be seen. When you moving in the beautiful garden, two rectangle parts appear near the Tomb of Saadi. The appearance of Tomb of Saadi is a rectangular building with two perpendicular porches, a beautiful turquoise dome on top of it. Furthermore, at the entrance of Tomb of Saadi there are eight brown stone columns.

When you entering the inside of the tomb, you will encounter an octagonal space with a very high ceiling in which Saadi’s tomb is located. The Tomb of Saadi is one of the religious and cultural attractions of Shiraz. Saadi’s tombstone is the same tombstone installed during the reign of Ali Akbar Khan Qawan Shirazi. The octagonal walls of Tomb of Saadi are beautifully decorated with mosaic tiles and are decorated with verses from the poems of this great poet. In one part of the Tomb of Saadi, there is an inscription that shows how the tomb was built. Passing through the high porch of Tomb of Saadi, you will reach a room where another talented poet of Shiraz, Shourideh Shirazi, is buried. Fish pond, coin pond, Saadi library and traditional tea house are other parts of the beautiful Tomb of Saadi. In Tomb of Saadi, many other great poets of Shiraz have been buried during the past years.

New building

Mohsen Foroughi, an Iranian modernist architect, designed the Tomb of Saadi in collaboration with Ali Akbar Sadegh, inspired by traditional Iranian architectural elements, in 1330. The building of Tomb of Saadi is in Iranian style with 8 columns of brown stones that are located in front of the tomb and the main building is decorated with white stone and tiles. The tomb is cubic on the outside but octagonal on the inside with marble walls and azure domes. The area of the Tomb of Saadi is about 257 square meters. The main building of the tomb consists of two porches perpendicular to each other, and the tomb of the sheikh is located at the corner of these two porches. The dome of the Tomb of Saadi is made of turquoise tiles.

The foundation stones of the building are black and the columns and the front of the porch are made of special red granite. The exterior of the Tomb of Saadi is made of travertine and the interior is made of marble. The tombstone of Saadi is located in the middle of an octagonal mansion and its roof is decorated with turquoise tiles. On the seven sides of the building of Tomb of Saadi, there are seven inscriptions that have been selected from parts of Golestan, Bustan, ode, poems and good deeds of Saadi and written by “Ibrahim Bouzari”. The text of another inscription written by “Ali Asghar Hekmat” who explained how the Tomb of Saadi was built. The building of Tomb of Saadi is connected to the portico on the left, in which there are seven arches that are connected to the tomb of Shourideh Shirazi with a black floor. The tomb is located in a room with an inscription on the head that introduces Shourideh and a poem by himself is written on the crimson tiles on the wall.

Tomb of Saadi is the residence and burial place of Saadi, a prominent Persian poet of Iran, Shiraz. Among all attractions of Shiraz, Tomb of Saadi is one of the most special and attractive sights. Join Persiana Travel and Tourism Agency’s tour to explore everything about this beautiful place.