Garden of Peace

The 3,000 year old city of Kabul, capital and largest city in Afghanistan, often graces one’s attention when news of a bombing or military attack in the city reaches mainstream media. Since 1978 a state of almost continuous war has gripped the city.

But within this chaos sits the 11 hectare Bagh-e Babur garden. Now surrounded by the urban sprawl of modern Kabul, the garden has seen hundreds of years of war and decline. An 1842 earthquake decimated many of its structures. Trees were destroyed or cut down for firewood during mid-nineties warfare.

The garden was one of many created by the founder of the Moghul Dynasty, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (who claims direct descent from Genghis Khan) and built between 1504 and 1528 as his final resting place. In 2002 an initiative was launched to restore and rebuild the garden as a place of peace and green, fresh air and picnics.

“If there is a paradise on Earth, this is it, this is it, this is it.”

Working together, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the German government, South African architect Jolyon Leslie and hundreds of locals transformed the crumbling garden into a small piece of paradise and a symbol of regeneration.


The photo ‘Babur’s Flowers’ © Courtesy of Charisse Louw. Used by permission.