سرداب

What it is

سرداب (sardab), literally cold water or cold place, is a partially or fully underground room used as a summer retreat in traditional Iranian houses. By sinking the living space three to five meters below ground level, the room stays in contact with the cool earth and maintains a temperature of around twenty degrees Celsius even when the surface air reaches forty-five.

How it works

The sardab pairs two cooling strategies: thermal mass and ventilation. The earth around the room is a giant cold sink that absorbs heat from the air inside. A windcatcher (بادگیر, badgir) draws air down a shaft, often passing it over a small pool of water at the bottom, and pushes the cooled stream through the sardab before exhausting upward through a second flue. The room often connects directly to a hozkhane on the same level.

Stairs descend from the courtyard. Light enters through a small skylight or through grilled openings at the top of the wall. The whole assembly is engineered to stay dark, quiet, and cold during the worst hours of the desert afternoon.

Where they survive

Yazd and Kerman preserve the densest surviving stock of sardab rooms. The Yazd UNESCO old town has dozens accessible to visitors, including the Lariha and Aghazadeh houses. Kashan’s merchant houses also include sardab chambers, often deeper than three meters. In Kerman, the historic Ganjali Khan complex contains a sardab tied to its bathhouse system.

How to use the word

tabestan-ha be sardab panah mibordand.

In summers they took refuge in the underground room.

تابستان‌ها به سرداب پناه می‌بردند.

References

• Dehkhoda, سرداب
• Vajehyab, سرداب