Author: A story by Rabi Noorzai (Kabul University Student)
Translated by: Freshta Sediqi, ARCH volunteer 

Kabul city is famous for its high mountains, fortresses, palaces and gardens. As a child, I heard many interesting stories from my parents about Kabul’s palaces. I also read about the antiquity of my country’s historical and cultural heritage at school. Since then, I’ve always yearned for an opportunity to visit Kabul’s palaces and gardens with my friends.

Last month, I together with a group of friends, decided to take two days off and have a tour of the city and its remarkable ancient sites on two beautiful sunny days. Read about Day 1. 

Day 2

The second day of our trip also started around 9:00 A.M., and the weather was nice and sunny. We planned to visit Chelsutoon Palace, the National Museum, Darulaman Palace, and Paghman throughout the day. Since we had an exciting day ahead and many places to visit, we got ready in a hurry and, like our first day of trip, we booked a cab to drive us through the town.

The first historical site that we planned to visit was Chelsutoon Palace, literally meaning “Forty Columns.” The palace is in the southern part of Kabul, so we drove around 6 miles from the city to Chelsutoon. The area is named Chelsutoon after this palace, a garden and pavilion which were built during Emir Abdur Rahman. This beautiful structure was expanded with walkways and marble fountains later in the time of Habibullah Khan. The palace overlooks 60 acres of land with a beautiful garden. According to locals, it was one of the state luxury guesthouses for foreign leaders and presidents visiting Afghanistan during 1990s. Unfortunately, the building and its surrounding had been damaged during the war. However, recently the palace went under a massive reconstruction. The palace is inaugurated to visitors and we enjoyed the gymnasium, exhibition hall, sports grounds and several stalls and shops that have been built in different parts of the garden.

We had a short trip of around 4 miles to reach the National Museum, also known as the Kabul Museum, it is in the southwest of Kabul. The museum has been under major extension including a huge attached garden for visitors to enjoy and walk around in. The museum was once considered to be one of the world’s most important collections in Central Asia. Like other cultural heritage sites, Kabul Museum was damaged during the war and its artifacts were looted numerous times. It was very interesting to visit our national museum for the first time. It was amazing to look at many treasures of ivory, antiquities from Kushan, early Buddhism and early Islam and the Rabatak Inscription of King Kanishka. We had the chance to look at the archaeological materials, numismatic collection, and the travelling collection that are stored for the last few years. We were able to visit different parts of the museum and take some interesting photos.

We visited Darulaman Palace towards the middle of the day. Darulaman Palace is also located in the southwest of Kabul. The palace is surrounded and centered by important buildings such as Afghan Parliament, National Museum, and American University. The palace was once considered an impressive structure and a centerpiece of the new capital city in the country. However, unfortunately, this important and historical building was attacked and bombed during the regime of the Mujahideen as well as the Taliban. The palace has been going through an extensive period of reconstruction and renovations, with the help of the new generation of Afghans. Many young Afghan male and female engineers and architects took part in the rebuilding of Darulaman. Construction of this historical site was completed in July 2019. Therefore, we were able to enter the palace and visit the inside.

We tried to finish our visits quicker as we wanted to spend more time in Paghman. So finally, we ended our visit by arriving at our last destination Paghman Palace after driving around 12 miles. On the way to Paghman, there is beautiful lake called Qargha. Some people rent a horse for an hour to ride around the valley. This beautiful site is one of the most common sightseeing sites by locals and Afghans from other parts of the country. We were very happy as this newly restored palace, the Paghman Hill Castle, is open to the public now. The palace’s surroundings have thousands of newly planted trees as well as a Buzkashi field, a waterfall, and other attractions. We liked the palace’s interior which is decorated with traditional handmade Afghani carpets and other traditional crafts. We had a great time in Paghman: We hiked, enjoyed a nature walk, and listened to birds singing.

Since most of these historical sites are in the southwest and west of Kabul, it is possible to visit all as part of a one-day or two-day trip. It was such a nice experience visiting these historical heritage sites with a group of friends and keeping some photos for memories.