Address
Isfahan
Isfahan
Telephone: +98(311)6635231
Fax: +98(311)6627966
Description
The site of the Friday Mosque in Isfahan has been of religious importance since around 400AD when a Zoroastrian fire temple was present on the site. I
[more]The site of the Friday Mosque in Isfahan has been of religious importance since around 400AD when a Zoroastrian fire temple was present on the site. It became an early Islamic mosque in the 8th Century and the mosque that stands there today contains elements of all the successive architectural periods since. It has been damaged by earthquakes, fires and Scud missiles during its history. Over time it developed into a classic 4-corner Persian mosque.
On entering, visitors go through the southern cloisters - a dimly lit area of high brick-built arches and domes with light filtering through ceiling grills. The earliest areas are mostly in brick, where the only decoration is the patterning of the brick placement or marks stamped into the clay. Later areas, including the four eiwans (porticoes), are intricately tiled. The Northern side is particularly interesting for its Mongol architecture - there is a stucco mehrab and an enclosed winter prayer room designed to feel like a tented structure.
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