At the foot of the Elburz Mountains in Tehran Province, Qazvin (Kazvin) was founded after 300 AD and sacked by the Mongols. Shah Tahmasp I (1524-76) made it his capital and made a series of gardens in the Royal Quarter. The Spanish Ambassador wrote of 'a broad alley lined with cypress and plane trees. In the middle and to the right a smaller alley led to a beautiful and large pool which was more than 140m square, in which stood a pretty pavilion'.
