About 8,000 years ago, Iranians lived in buildings with compounds. However, it took 6,000 years for the evolution of buildings and houses with complete central compound area.
According to Caroun website, courtyard, in various historical eras, has had one or more applications. The most primitive way of encircling a refuge inside a stockade could be seen in the stone fences of Azarbaijan. Those stockades, though not high have a sign of distinguishing the limit of ownership by constructors. Such stockades still could be seen in regions of Iran such as Gilan plains.
A courtyard has been discovered as a connected element among spaces in ancient houses of Tappeh Zagheh (6th millennium BC)
Houses consist of two parts “compound“ and “covered“ with residential spaces and non-residential places. The former (residential) was divided into two sectors for sleeping and daily activities, keeping livestock or storing agriculture products. All houses had two or three courtyards.

Ancient Yards
A sample of a very simple yarded house, with one single room and small storehouse, is considered a primitive type of a compound. Very near to central yard is a building named ’Sakhteman Soukhteh’ (meaning: burnt building), in ’Tappeh Hessar’ of Damghan. This building has had a defensive stockade, tower and rampart in distances. Various spaces like central hall, storages, kitchen and other rooms opened toward the yard.
Another building named ’Sakhteman Soukhteh’ in the ancient hill of Hassanlou, (800-1000 B.C.) was also constructed with a yard. A lateral characteristic of this building is two yards with one residential space.
Chogha Zanbil in Shoush, Khuzestan province, was first built with a central courtyard. This building had a central courtyard in lower floors; each yard had reposing space, bathroom and kitchen around it. Probably houses in the ancient city also had an open (or closed) central space, so that other spaces opened toward it. Parthian buildings also utilized central courtyard in their architecture, their remaining works in Kuh Khajeh in Sistan and Ashur confirms the aspect.
In Kuh Khajeh, the building of a palace with central yard and two verandas has been excavated. Some parts of the palace opened to the yard, but had no opening.
Assyrian Palace of the first and second centuries BC also had the same specification in the plan, with four verandas on four sides of the yard. Iranian architecture researchers have introduced this design as a pattern for construction of Four-Veranda Mosque with a central yard at the onset of Islam.
The same method of construction was applied later, such as the fire temple of Firouzabad. This building has three domes, lateral spaces and also a central yard.
Sassanids, in continuation of Parthian buildings, constructed big buildings with yards, like “Sarvestan Palace“, “Kasra Palace“ in Tisfoun and “Khosro Palace“ in Qasr-e Shirin.

Islamic Era Yards
This type of construction (building with a central yard) was also popular in the Islamic era and some big mosques at the beginning of Islam were built in this way. Some important works of the early Islamic era were constructed by using such design patterns, including Mosque of Fahraj (8th century AD.) and Tarikhaneh Mosque of Damghan.
In the subsequent periods, distinct samples of Iranian mosques were introduced with four verandas and a central yard.
There is no evidence of such house plans in Iran in the early Islamic era, but it is probable that in some parts of the country, houses were built by focusing more on the interior. Houses of two remote buildings in Groan and Seraph also have yards.
One of the most ancient houses, which has remained from 14th century AD, in Iran, is House of Taw-e Boland, in Nevadan Quarter of Yazd. The house has a vestibule and spiral corridor. Main fronts of the house are in two sections, sun-looking and sun backed; some areas were built in eastern and western fronts; one of the particularities of this house is application of four-section-ceiling as a cover for some areas of the house.
There are many houses with yards remaining from Safavid era in Isfahan. Shiraz has also many houses from Zand era. Also, one could find pretty houses, especially in Kashan, Shiraz, Yazd and other cities, dating back to the Qajar era, in which the central yard is formed by setting side by side the various spaces of the house.

In line with the drive to renovate Fars province’s historical and cultural buildings, Zaki Khani Caravansary, located in Zarqan, has been renovated.
Zarqan Municipality and the provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department co-sponsored the renovation. The caravansary has one square-shaped courtyard. It seems that it originally had four balconies. However, today only the western balcony remains, the Persian daily ’Iran’ reported.
There are four halls around the building. The architectural style used shows that symmetry was heeded by its builders in the most pertinent manner. This is quite evident in the design of the decorative arches of the edifice.
The brickworks of the building are reminiscent of the architectural style prevalent from the era of Seljuk to Safavid. The building’s ceiling is still in a good shape despite the passage of a few centuries. The main construction materials used are brick and stone. Plaster is used for the interior decorations. The caravansary was registered as national heritage in 2006.