مریم رحیم نژاد

Saveh is one of the famous cities of Jibal regioin in Islamic age and it continuously, has played a particular role in history due to its location in the communication path of north-east to capital city Baghdad. The special position of this city, and its favourable natural condition (a great plain with the area of 238000 HA, two permanent rivers and the widespread irrigation network), have made Saveh to triumphantly pass the historical developments and be in the spotlight of geographers and historians. Since the remain of the ancient Saveh and its historical context have been changed due to development of the new city, the study of the developments of this city would be inevitable. This paper has attempted to study historical development of Saveh based on written sources and also the reports provided by visitors who have visited this city. Indeed the findings of the current research could be useful and applicable retrieval of the spatial organization of this city and its date range protection.

Indeed the early texture of cities can be considered as their historical memory. These collections have involved the precious treasure of story of nation’s civilization, and they generously, grant researchers to define culture, religious beliefs, techniques and art of their creature of these cities. That is why any actions in damage to these monuments can be considered as a destruction of the memory of the city. among these Saveh is one of rare cities which its valuable historical texture has preserved its monuments and building from early Islamic centuries to Pahlavi ages. despite the importance of Saveh city in formation of historical evolution in Islamic era, There are no registered purposeful and continues archaeological studies about its historical texture and many questions regarding spatial structure features this historic city remained unanswered. Although historical texture of this city has been damaged due to some issue such as: 1) incompeted soil type and durability of soil, 2) flood and several earthquakes and more than all 3) The constructions in unreasonable manner, but fortunately some of its valuable historical buildings have been survived so that the chronology and study of their spatial layout could be applicable for reconstruction of its urban space. Regarding to this target, it was attempted to utilize all the written references related to Saveh city and the field works have been done for documentation and registration of all historical buildings. Also all effective factors on growth and development of the city (such as topology, town slope, aweather, networks and water supply system and etc) have been specified. As a result of this research, it was cleared that the initial core of the city has been formed in the southern area and in the medieval Islamic centuries (5-9 A.H./ 11-15 A.D.) it has been expanded around the Saljuq Mosque. Also it was detected that in the Safavid period the city has been extended toward the north and in the Qajar period it has been developed toward the northwest.