ABSTRACT
The image of the ideal Farangi street as wide, paved, clean, and straight is at least partially rooted in the contrast between self and Other. In premodern Persian cities within hot and arid regions (including Kashan, which was Farrokh-Khan’s hometown, and Shiraz, which was home to the other three travelers), the organic layout of city streets is typically narrow and very often curved, as an adaptation to harsh weather conditions. The qualities of Farangi streets that the travelers praised rendered an image that was not quite unfamiliar to their Iranian audience – the kucheh-bagh. This elegant architectural feature is basically a linear orchard aligned along the sides of an alleyway, designed according to the principles of charbagh, the Persian garden. The imagery of Eram appears many times in Abolhasan’s account, most often in descriptions of elite county houses.
