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Photo: Ali Pourmand --- From Wikipedia: "The Persian Garden refers to a tradition and style of garden design which originated in Persia and which influenced the design of gardens throughout the larger region. The Taj Mahal is one of the largest Persian gardens of the world. Traditionally, such gardens would have been enclosed. The garden's purpose was, and is, to provide a place for relaxation in a variety of manners: spiritual, and leisurely (such as meetings with friends), essentially a paradise on earth. The Persian word for "enclosed space" was pairi-daeza, a term that was adopted by Christian mythology to describe the garden of Eden or Paradise on earth." (The word "paradise" comes from the Persian word "Pardis".) You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Garden
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North Africa/Middle East
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