Karim Khan Citadel - Shiraz, Iran | ارگ کریم خان زند در شیراز

The Arg of Karim Khan or Karim Khan Citadel is a citadel located in downtown Shiraz, Iran. It was built as part of a complex during the Zand dynasty. It is named after Karim Khan and served as his living quarters. It is rectangular in shape and resembles a medieval fortress.

In the past, the citadel was sometimes used as a prison. Today, it is a museum operated by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. A public park surrounds it.

The Arg of Karim Khan was built in 1180 AH (1766-7). Karim Khan invited the best architects and artists of the time and bought the best materials from other cities and abroad for the construction of the castle of Karim Khan, which was quickly constructed. During the Zand dynasty, it was used by the king as living quarters. During the Qajar period, it was used as the governor's seat.

Prince Abdolhosein Mirza Farmanfarma, governor of Fars Province, ordered the miniatures in the castle to be renovated.

After the fall of the Qajar Dynasty, it was converted into a prison and the paintings were plastered over. In 1971 it was given to Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. The renovation of the castle started in 1977.

Karim Khan Castle is located at Shahrdari Square. It has a land area of 4,000 m2 and is in the center of a 12,800 m2 compound. The Citadel of Karim Khan consists of four high walls connected by four 14 m round brick towers at a 90-degree angle. Each 12 m wall is carnalized and is 3 meters thick at the base and 2.8 meters at the top. The design of the citadel combines military and residential architecture, for it was the home of Karim Khan and the military center of the dynasty.

James Edward Alexander in 1827 described the citadel as being surrounded by a "deep wet ditch".

Tile works depicting legendary tales were added at the entrance gate of the citadel during the Qajar Era.

Arg-e-Karimkhani (Karim Khan Citadel)
This structure can be easily found at a corner of Shahrdari Square close to Shiraz bazaar. The appearance of the building resembles a solid fortress entirely made from bricks with military as well as residential functions. The construction of Karimkhan Citadel goes back to the second half of the 18th century when Karimkhan-e-Zand was ruling in Iran from Shiraz, his capital city.

The structure reminds you of the plain brick-made buildings of the 11th and 12th centuries when Seljuks were ruling in Iran. The corner bastions are very robust and decorated with bricks. One won’t realize how delicate some of the details inside the building could be without exploring it. At the southeastern corner of the citadel, a bastion is leaning like it’s going to fall down! It’s been like that for years and has been reinforced to stand in its place.

Above the entrance gate, you will notice a sizable tile-worked scene of Rostam’s battle against a demon. Rostam is the protagonist character of Shahnameh, the epic poem book of Ferdowsi, the most well-known Iranian poet of the 10th and 11th centuries. After entering the vestibule a corridor leads you into the large courtyard with an astonishing orange garden!

The garden inside the large courtyard of Arg-e-Karimkhani takes approximately up 80% of the area. The rest, the courtyard floor, is all covered by marble stone from the time of construction. A pathway from the center of the garden leads to the middle of each side of the courtyard opposite a portico leading to some of the rooms of the building.

Main Rooms of Karimkhan Citadel
As you enter the courtyard from the vestibule, at the opposite side of the courtyard, under the large wind catcher, there’s a portico that can be seen right away. Inside the beautifully decorated rooms of this section, attractive wax statues revive the setting inside the court of Karim Khan where he met with officials and ruled over the territories under his domination.

The fresco embellishment of the walls and ceilings are fabulous examples of how beautifully Zand art vitalized official and non-official buildings of that period. A combination of gold leaves with relatively dark red colors was used to give an elegant taste to the interior walls of the royal buildings.

Adjacent to this main room, sometimes a couple of other rooms are opened to the public to see the local costumes of Iranian women of various ethnic groups. The colorful gowns seen here are still worn by local people when you travel to different parts of Iran.
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