Taq-i Kisra
The Taq -e Kisra (often: Taq -i - Kisra edited, translated: Arch of Chosroes, occasionally arch of Ctesiphon called ), (Persian طاق كسرى ) Taq -e Kesra or (Persian إيوان كسرى ) ayvan - e Kesra, is a Sassanian palace ruin in Mahuza, which forms the only above-ground remnant of the city Ctesiphon in Iraq. The ruin is about 35 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.
History
The palace said to have originated during the reign of Khosrau I. Sassanidenherrschers ( 531-579 ). This widespread thesis is not fully recognized, the palace is also attributed to Shapur I, a Sassanid from the early phase of the Empire, this was Ctesiphon want to raise the capital of the Sassanid Empire. After Khosrau I. 560 ( the prevailing view following) had defeated the White Huns and made peace with Eastern Rome, he had converted his palace, which contained the arch Taq -e Kisra. From this once largest Sassanidenresidenz a small part is only left in addition to the archway.
637 the system was taken and plundered by the Arabs in the Arab- Islamic expansion. At times, the palace was used as a mosque.
1888 was one-third of the ruins a flood of the Tigris to the victim. 1909 tore away more floods of the river to the north wing. Saddam Hussein began in 1975 and in the 1980s, the restoration of the north wing. After the second Gulf War, the project was discontinued.
Architecture
The entire system was characterized by a rectangular courtyard, around which clustered four wings of the building. The more than 24.5 m wide and 33 m high brick vaults covered the 48 m long throne room in which the Sassanidenfürsten granted dressed in brocade and silk audiences. The construction is parabolic, so the arch is particularly large. In the Näehe the bottom of the arch is seven feet thick, the apex one meter. After a Mesopotamian art, the near-ground bricks were installed horizontally and vertically in the vault. Experts of the Emperor Justinian helped build. Frameworks were not used despite the height. In the vaulted hall Byzantine marble reliefs and mosaics were introduced, which showed the conquest of Antioch. Other insignia of power formed a 27 x 27 meter large rug ( Bahār -e Kisra ) at the foot of Sassanidenkaisers and a magnificent huge crown ( attached to a gold chain) from the ceiling of the arch hung. The mighty Ivan was edged on both sides of each six-story brick facades with architraves, which is not clear whether these Roman or Hellenistic echoes. Adorned were the facades with decorative blind arches and columns. Behind these hid the rest of the premises of the palace estate. The archway is the largest preserved Ivan the pre-Islamic period. The ideal that living rooms were summarized and draped around a paved courtyard, was fixed in the subsequent period part of the Iranian architecture and is also reflected in this object. The ashlar construction has been replaced increasingly since the 4th century by finer processing of the brick and its obstruction by gypsum mortar. In addition, increasingly stucco ornaments were used.
"Spring of Khosrow "
The palace was once a garden carpet with checkered patterns fields, the measured 27 x 27 meters. His name was Bahār -e Kisra. The carpet made from flower beds, fruit trees, paths and water channels, and at the cross-roads, pavilions. He was through with precious metals. The branches of the trees were represented in gold and silver, flowers and fruit were embodied in precious stones, water passes through glass. In honor of the Sassanide popularly called today from the carpet to the "Spring of Khosrow ," or " Baharestan ".