Shabestan

).

These spaces were usually used during summers and could be ventilated by windcatchers and qanats.

Moreover, during the Sassanid era and subsequent Islamic periods, shabestans were also referred to inner sanctums of Shahs, where their concubines resided. Later these structures came to be called "zanāneh" (feminine residence), "andarouni" (inner private zone) and "haram" (from Arabic harem). [Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary]

ee also

*Iranian architecture

Footnotes