Partico of Kaboud Mosque (Blue Mosque) – Tabriz Province, Iran
Photo by Tappasan Phurisamrit / Shutterstock

Mosque is a holy place where Muslims worship God and it is also one of the most important buildings in Islamic architecture of Iran. The first mosques had a very simple architecture and they were mainly built in a square or rectangular shape whose walls were made of clay and the direction of mosques was toward Qibla.

Based on the archeological and historical researches, the oldest mosques of Iran are Shush Mosque and Jameh Mosque of Fahraj. The simple plan of mosques include minaret and semi-dome. The second oldest mosque of Iran is Tarikhaneh Mosque in Damghan city which was built at the beginning of 10th century. Shiraz Jameh Mosque, Jameh Mosque of Nā’īn and Neyriz Mosque in Fars Province were built during 10th and 11th centuries.

Seljuq Dynasty (11^th and 12^th centuries) is known as a time when mosque building flourished in different cities of Iran, there are some mosques made of bricks which can be considered the mementos of this era. They followed some of the instructions of Sassanid era such as Four-Iwan design (Chahar Iwani) in mosque building. Some of the mosque built in Seljuq era are Jameh mosques of Isfahan, Ardestan, Bersiyan, Borujerd, Ardabil.

Jam-e Mosque of Yazd – Yaz Province, Iran
Photo by Leonid Andronov / Shutterstock

The construction of huge buildings with their large domes became common in Ilkhanate Era (13^th and 15^th centuries) which can be abundantly observed in the architecture of the mosques. To make the buildings more attractive, they decorated the facades with long and thin frames and sharp crescents. The Jameh mosques of Yazd, Varamin and Oshtorjan were built in this era.

Timurid Empire (14^th century) witnessed the flourishment of decorating mosques with tiles. The mosques were mainly built using Four-Iwan methods with tall iwans and portals having beautiful muqarnas. Building domes which were like Kulah Khud (the helmets used in ancient western Asia for battle which were bowl-shaped and pointed) was one of the salient characteristics of this era. The most significant and famous mosques of this era were Goharshad (Mashhad), Blue (Tabriz) and Jameh mosque of Kashan.

Blue Mosque in Tabriz is an indoor mosque without any yard, it is called turquoise of Islam.

The glory and resplendence of architecture and specially mosque building in Iran was observed in Safavid Dynasty (16^th – 18^th centuries). Some instances of the mosque in this era are Imam (or Shah) Mosque and Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque. In this era, the patterns used for mosque building were Four-Iwan design and large domes.

Kabud Gonbad Mosque (in Sarakhs) and Vakil Mosque (in Shiraz) are the memorials of Afsharid and Zand dynasties (18^th century).

Mihrab of Nasir Ol Molk Mosque – Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
Photo by NICOLA MESSANA/ Shutterstock

Although the traces of Safavid mosque building style can be observed in Qajar Dynasty (18^th century), it is not as glorious as theirs. Also, the European art and decorations were used in this era. Imam Mosque of Semnan is an absolute example of Four-Iwan mosque which is a representative of Qajar architecture as well. Some of these examples are Shah Mosque (Tehran), Sepahsalar or Motahari Mosque (Tehran), Nasir al-Mulk Mosque (Shiraz) and Agha Bozorg Mosque and school (Kashan).

It is interesting to know that Now or Atabak Mosque in Shiraz and Ard-Khorma (Flour and Date) Mosque in Ardakan are the largest and smallest mosques of Iran respectively.

Iranian Architecture Infographic / Historic Imam Mosque – Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran
Photo by Alexandre Rotenberg / Shutterstock
Infographic by Negar Ganji

Components of a Mosque

All the mosques have some common components regardless of their construction style including: Courtyard, Iwan (a rectangular hall), Portico, Minaret, Dome, Shabestan (an underground space) and Mihrab (semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the Qibla). Each of these components can be removed from the components of a mosque except Mihrab which is the most important part of a mosque and shows the direction of Qibla.

Courtyard

courtyard or “Sahn” is a common element in religious buildings and residences, used in urban and rural settings which is called Mian Sara as well. The Iwan is located around Mian Sara.

Iwan

it is a sitting room which is higher than its surrounding spaces and is usually built in the exterior parts of the buildings. The Iwan of Iranian mosque is usually decorated with muqarnas.

Portico

it is an indoor space having pillars which is built between two sides of courtyard or Mian Sara of the mosque. Its entrance is opened to courtyard and connects the entrance of the mosque to the Shabestan.

Minaret

the first minaret was built in 10th century. It was primarily built as a single construction but later, it became a paired element in the architecture of the mosques.

Dome

the hemispherical ceilings in the traditional architecture of Iran which are decorated with bricks or tiles.

Mihrab

it is a semicircular niche in the wall of mosque which indicates the Qibla and is the turning point of a mosque.

Shabestan

it is an indoor space with uniform and parallel pillars which is connected to the courtyard of the mosque wherein people can say prayers. Some of them lack pillars.

Shabestan of Vakil Mosque – Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
Photo by javarman / Shutterstock

Different Iranian Mosques

Generally, there are two kinds of mosque in Iran: the mosques with Shabestan or with Iwan, of course, the crucial role of Chahartaqi mosques (an architectural unit consisted of four barrel vaults) cannot be ignored.

Shabestan Mosques

different parts of these mosques are an indoor area next to Qibla, central yard and platforms.

Chahartaqi Mosques

the mosques having a quadrilateral plan and domical ceiling including four pillars and a domical vault are called Chahartaqi mosques.

Iwan Mosques

in 11th century, using pillars was no longer common and the architecture style changed from Shabestani to Iwan design. Iwan is a component which is used in this style and the mosques are named based on the architectural style and number of Iwans used in building them e.g. One-Iwan, Two-Iwan, Four-Iwan and the combination of Chahartaq and Iwan. In Two-Iwan mosques, the Iwans were built in front of each other.

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Gonbad-e Qabus – Gorgan, Golestan Province, Iran
Photo by Ahb1989 via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

In the 10^th century, the construction of quadrangular dome mausoleums became a favorite plan of making monumental tombs. in Iran however, the architects couldn’t be satisfied with just one plan and started making changes and creating new plans; that’s how the ridged plans came to being and the Kavus Dome in Gorgan is the first example, and most well-known of buildings made with this plan. The Tower was built by the order of Kavus (Qabus) the Ziarid ruler in the city of Gorgan. The construct has three main sections: foundation, stem, and dome.

The Tower was built by the order of Kavus (Qabus) the Ziarid ruler in the city of Gorgan.

The foundation was built on a 15-meter mound from brick and in form of a vertical cylinder. The 15-meter excavations of 1899 by a Russian mission proved the absence of tomb or a body in the foundation. The later excavations by the Archeological Survey of Iran recorded the foundation to be around 9.8 m.; the foundation’s decrease in size as it approaches the surface of the land where the stem is built; around 1.45 m of the foundation is above the ground. The stem is surrounded with 10 ridges that both strengthen the construct, and acts as ornamentation and reduces the simplicity of the façade. They are 37 m tall and end at the base of the dome made with yellow bricks.

The dome is conical and about 18 m, the bricks become smaller near the center and a simple window adorns the dome that was probably used for air circulation. The arched entrance is in the eastern side of the construct, it is 1.6 m wide and 5.5 m tall. The interior of the mausoleum is simple with no decoration which is a trademark of the monumental tombs of the northern part of Iran. The façade is not that different either, beside the 10 ridges and the inscriptions nothing else adorns the construct. The inscription is a combination of 10 bricked platforms placed in the spaces between the ridges and naming the person who the mausoleum belongs to (Kavus or Qabus) and the date of its construction based on Solar and Hijri Calendar..

The constructs like Gonbad-e Qabus show a tendency to Iranian identity, culture and Tradition.

After two centuries of silence in art and science that took over Iran after the invasion of Arabs, Iranian began their artistic productivity. However, the aesthetic of the time has changed and under the influence of Islam, simplicity has become the key factor of people’s life and belief. Everything built in this period of time is simple in both plan and decoration. But slowly movements began on obtaining a national identity that opposed the Islamic one, Iranian weren’t satisfied with tasteless works of the day and were eager for a return to the glory of their past. The constructs like Gonbad-e Qabus mark the beginning of such returns, not only it adds elements to the simple quadrangular plan of the time, but also by adding the Solar date to the Hijri date, they showed an attempt in highlighting Iranian culture and tradition. So the building’s significance is not just the ingenuity of its construction, it is the attempt of achieving an Iranian identity that matters most. The construct was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.

The constructs like Gonbad-e Qabus show a tendency to Iranian identity, culture and Tradition.

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