Chehel Sotun Palace

 Built as a reception hall by Shah Abbas 1 (1657 A.D.) behind the Ali Qapu Palace continues the old Talar, or columnar porch. At its simplest it is only a roof-high porch constituting the facade.

 When attached to a royal building, it provides a huge outdoor reception hall, and is susceptible to lavish embellishments, which have included mirror-plated columns, panels and stalactites, and polychrome mosaic ceilings. 
     The name means "The Forty Columns", although there are actually 20. A reflecting pool is provided to see the other 20. A more mundane explanation is that 40 was once used synonymously with many in Persian, and still is in some quarters. Walls of Chehel Sotun were covered with frescoes and paintings depicting specific historical scenes.