This satellite image of Natanz shows the main street, lined with plane trees (chenar). The Ilkhanid shrine of Abd al-Samad – and even the shadow of its’ lofty minaret – is easily visible. The ‘monstrous’ chenar under which Shah Abbas lodged (123km from Isfahan) is now only a struggling stump: Figueroa described it in 1618 as easily shading a caravan with 200 camels, horses and beasts of burden.
