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Paradise Gardens: The world's most beautiful Islamic gardens
As seen on the highly acclaimed BBC2 series Monty Don's Paradise Gardens, a full colour exploration of the astonishing beauty of twenty-nine Islamic paradise gardens from Iran, Turkey, India, England, Spain and Morocco.
In the Islamic tradition, a garden with its central elements of water, the scent of fruit trees, and places for rest and reflection, celebrate heaven on earth. Paradise gardens play a central role in everyday life in the Islamic world, yet little is known about them. Monty Don and acclaimed photographer, Derry Moore, set off on a journey to find out more about the principles and immersive delights of paradise gardens and how a very different culture and climate has influenced garden design round the world.
Their journey covers twenty-nine gardens from the Real Alcazar and the Alhambra in Spain, and Le Jardin Majorelle in Morocco, to Highgrove and a Mughal garden in Bradford in England. There are some spectacular and rarely seen examples such as Pasargadae and the Maidan in Isfahan, Iran, the birthplace of paradise gardens, as well as the more renowned examples such as Turkey's Topkapi Palace and the Amber Palace and Taj Mahal in India.
A glorious celebration of the richness of Islamic culture through some of the most beautiful gardens on earth.
'A garden, green and filled with water is heaven on earth - it is paradise.' Monty Don
In the Islamic tradition, a garden with its central elements of water, the scent of fruit trees, and places for rest and reflection, celebrate heaven on earth. Paradise gardens play a central role in everyday life in the Islamic world, yet little is known about them. Monty Don and acclaimed photographer, Derry Moore, set off on a journey to find out more about the principles and immersive delights of paradise gardens and how a very different culture and climate has influenced garden design round the world.
Their journey covers twenty-nine gardens from the Real Alcazar and the Alhambra in Spain, and Le Jardin Majorelle in Morocco, to Highgrove and a Mughal garden in Bradford in England. There are some spectacular and rarely seen examples such as Pasargadae and the Maidan in Isfahan, Iran, the birthplace of paradise gardens, as well as the more renowned examples such as Turkey's Topkapi Palace and the Amber Palace and Taj Mahal in India.
A glorious celebration of the richness of Islamic culture through some of the most beautiful gardens on earth.
'A garden, green and filled with water is heaven on earth - it is paradise.' Monty Don
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2018
27 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Montagu Don
41 books292 followersMontagu 'Monty' Denis Wyatt Don is a German-born British television presenter, writer and speaker on horticulture, known for presenting the BBC television series Gardeners' World.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2019
As always with Monty Don's writing this was informative and interesting. The concept of the paradise garden is one that came out of environment: to get water and plants into the most inhospitable places on this planet: deserts and barren places. The most interesting aspect is the restraint that the concept requires to work: guided water rills and a restraint in the choice of plants, often oranges or olives. It was fascinating to read how the various countries adapted the idea to their own environments.
I found Don's comments that it is a garden type that could be used more in English gardens a little odd as England is a land of roses and soft skies (albeit now coping with heatwaves and droughts because of climate change). However having an area enclosed and divided into four with a bubbling water feature, some orange trees and roses, sounds lovely.
What was also enjoyable was not just the history of the gardens in all the countries but how these gardens are still being used by people today for recreation and wellness.
I found Don's comments that it is a garden type that could be used more in English gardens a little odd as England is a land of roses and soft skies (albeit now coping with heatwaves and droughts because of climate change). However having an area enclosed and divided into four with a bubbling water feature, some orange trees and roses, sounds lovely.
What was also enjoyable was not just the history of the gardens in all the countries but how these gardens are still being used by people today for recreation and wellness.
April 28, 2019
stunning!
August 7, 2020
A good read if you are interested in gardening, history and Islamic culture.
July 5, 2023
It's been one more pleasant walk with Monty
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews