February 2012, its the moment of decision. To go or not to go to Iran. I had booked this trip a while ago but did not anticipate that the political situation was so tense at this time. Israel is assumed to be ready to bomb the nuclear sites in Iran as early as April and the US could be dragged in via the Straits of Hormuz etc. Added to the fact that the US does not have an embassy in Iran makes it even more tricky.

In the end I decided that March is a window of calm and off we went. This is not a forum for discussion on politics but I am now convinced that religion and politics should never be in the same room. Political power through religion is extremely dangerous.

Ardebil has been a 'pilgrimage' goal of mine for over 20 years because of the collection of Chinese porcelains (to be discussed later). It happens to be the mausoleum of a Sheikh Safi-Od-Din. He was credited of turning Iran away from Sunni Islam to Shite Islam and so the shrine is a pilgrimage site to many religious people in Iran.

The complex is not huge but the decoration is delicate and beautiful. It was built by Safi-Od-Din's grandson to honor his grandfather during the Safavid period and its importance grew over time. The entry is through a formal garden complex over 100 meters and through a door into the courtyard surrounded by facades of blue tiled motifs. The shrine is a building in front with a domed Allah-allah tower because the wall of the tower is decorated with the stylized blue tile word of Allah. To the left and right are huge iwans decorated also with tile work. The left iwan is the entrance to the kitchen and I am not sure about the right building.

As you enter the shrine you are faced with a long prayer hall called Ghandil Kaneh or lantern house. The decoration is brilliant gold paint with open rooms on the left side with stalactite roof decorations. At the end of the hall is the wooden sarcophagi of the sufi.

To the left of the hall are passageways to the next room which is Chini Kaneh or the China Room. This is an octagonal room that is domed. The walls above 3 meters from the floor are completely covered with 8-10 tiers of stucco niches carved in the shape of vases, plates and bowls for the display of Chinese Porcelains. There must be about 1000 niches on all eight walls. On the floor of this room is a reproduction of the world famous Ardebil carpet. A small photograph of the original states that it is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Ardebil Carpet: According to wiki there were originally two identical carpets each 10.5 meters X 5.3 meters with 26 million knots at 500,000 knots per sq meter. The carpets were made in the 16th C and in 1890 they were both sold to a British carpet broker in poor condition. He then restored one carpet by cannibalizing the other and sold the restored carpet to the V&A. The second carpet that is now smaller than the original was eventually sold to J Paul Getty who later donated it to the LA County Museum.

Many copies of this carpet's design has been made over the centuries and as such it has become world famous.

Chinese Porcelains: I have been a amateur admirer of Chinese Porcelains for many years and have travelled the world to admire them in museums. It is an incredible fact that the best collections of Chinese Blue and White Porcelains in the world are at Istanbul (Topkapi) and Ardebil. The reason is because of the silk road. When Marco Polo and others travelled the silk road, it was already a path of incredible commerce between the China and the west. Naturally, Iran and Turkey were the entry points to that commerce. At the time of the 14th C, the Chines potters invented a technique to make under glaze blue and white porcelains using cobalt paint. The rest of the world would not discover the secret to making high fired porcelains like the Chinese for another 400 years! Most of the pottery in the middle east were low fired pottery clay ware. As such the Chinese porcelain ware was worth its weight in gold as it has to travel for thousands of miles over land in one piece to get to Iran. The collection at Ardebil was built up by Shah Abbas I and he donated over 800 pieces to the Ardebil shrine. The most magnificent pieces are all from the 14-16th C. There are currently about 100 pieces on display in display cases around the Chini Kaneh. These are some of the best in the world but they are all mislabeled as 17th C.

When the sea routes open to China, Europe then built up collections of 18th C Chinese Porcelains.

I have now made it to Topkapi and Ardebil.