Darul Aman Palace

Ever been in a palace?

Saturday beamed in with ideal temps and clear skies.  What to do?  Jon had the day off, it was a national day of mourning for the recently assasinated former President Rabbani....no offices or business open.....

so we went sightseeing with newly arrived visitors at the guest house nearby.  Our first stop was such a success, we got no further!  Zamir, our escort, sweet-talked the guards into letting us walk through the bombed-out palace sitting high above the city.  It speaks of yesteryear, an era of grandeur that is not quite forgotten.

With a little research, we found it was built around

1920 by Amanullah Khan, the first King of the newly independent Afghanistan.  The intention was for it to house the seat of Parliament in the near 

future.....and to be part of a new capital city on the outskirts of Kabul.  The name Darul Aman means

Abode of Peace or Abode of Aman.  Today the highway leading into town (4 lanes, recently paved) is Darulaman Road and ends at the palace.

Jon rides there every day to work, then takes a right to Afshar Hospital.  We are 'posing' in our PLAIN HARDWARE t-shirts a friend sent us so we can add to the bulletin board at the hardware store in Plain, Washington....".where in the world have you worn these shirts?"  We will take them to Nepal with us also.

Back to the history.....Built in the neo-classical style, it was beauty fit-for-a-king.  Sadly, King Amanullah Khan was ousted in 1929 and the palace went unused, stood empty for decades.  A fire gutted it in 1969, after which it was restored for use by the Defense  Ministry in the 70's and 8o's.....that is, until 1978 when the Communists set it on fire.

Queen's Palace

The Queen also had a palace nearby....The Tajbeg Palace.  One account says the family lived there.  It has also been devastated.   The last king of Afghanistan reigned from 1933-1973, Zahir Shah.  No mention is made of his residence, so we assume it was not in the palaces.  The Civil War that ocurred after the Soviets left in the early 90's, was no kinder to the edifices.  As you can see, bullet holes abound, and destruction rampant.  Seems so sad for such a grand place to be wasted so utterly.  The expansive garden area around the palace was full of trees and plants.

 

We were able to climb to the top floor and walk in the cleared pathways to many more rooms than I am showing here.  I prayed no earthquake struck while we were there, although there were plenty of other danger points along the way.

It was a treat to have been able to see this.  Thank you Zamir and Haroom....our guest house guides.