Qaisariye Square of Lar (A Research on Historical Evolutions of an Urban Space)

Abstract

Qaisariye Square is one of the important elements of major skeleton of Safavid Lar and is the only remained square of Safavid era in Fars Province which represents important historical evolutions although it has not been scrutinized. This paper represents the previous and original condition of the square’s open space in Safavid era and investigates the course of historical evolutions in different periods especially the current situation. Based on a analytical-historical research method and on travelogues, historical texts and pictorical documents of Qaisariye Square as well as conducting field studies and accurate perceptions, the paper represents the original physical condition of square in Safavid era and documents the historical evolutions in later periods especially the current situation. The results demonstrated that Qaisariye Square of Lar, as an urban space, has experienced various evolutions in three physical, access and activity dimensions after Safavid era. These changes primarily include the progress in longitudinal limits of shops in Qajar era. Then, the surrounding portico in open space was removed in Pahlavi era. In Republic Islamic of Iran, the portico reconstructed in three bodies of north, east and west with a different prespective than its original form. Providing riding access to the square in the Pahlavi era was the beginning of fundamental changes in form and function of middle open space of Qaysariye Square. The essence of square as an urban space faces changes and serious problems and the function of square descends to a traffic knot. Analyzing and identifying the evolutions of the square show the substantive and formal changes that cause its poor position as a historical urban space so that the topic should be noticed in the recreation plans of historical context of Lar.