The Goharshad Mosque (; ) is a grand

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Friday mosque (''jāmeh'') that is part of the

Imam Reza Shrine The Imam Reza shrine (; ) is a Shi'ite shrine, imamzadeh and mausoleum complex, located in Mashhad, in the province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. The shrine contains the grave of Ali al-Rida, who is regarded as the eighth Imam in Shia Islam. Als ...

complex, located in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

, in the province of Razavi Khorasan,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Construction of the mosque commenced in 1418 CE, during the Timurid era, and was completed in CE. Another Gawhar Shad Mosque, built at the same time, is located in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

History

It was built by the order of Empress Goharshad, the wife of

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

of the

Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...

, and work commenced in 1418 CE, as part of her extensive renovation program for the shrine of Imam Riza. The double-layered dome of the mosque was severely damaged in 1911 in bombings by troops of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In the 1960s, the dome of Goharshad mosque was deemed to be in severe structural danger, damages caused by various earthquakes over time, the 1911 Russian bombings, and the attack on the mosque by Reza Shah during the 1935 rebellion required the dome to be rebuilt. By the order of Mohammad Reza Shah, the tiles from the ancient dome were removed in the 1960s and the external shell was dismantled. A new external shell was built and the dome was re-tiled. While such repairs were necessary, they permanently altered the historic identity of the mosque.

Architecture

Located to the south of the mausoleum, accessed through the dar al-siyadah, the mosque is of the familiar four- iwan courtyard form. The depths of the iwans are irregular, a response to the location of existing buildings within which it was inserted. Covering an area of approximately , the mosque consists of a large azure dome, two

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s, four verandas, a '' sahn'' with seven big bed-chambers, and a large altar made of a stony dado and mosaic

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...

shell. The two round minarets rise from the ground and flank the southern iwan, and was an innovation in Persian architecture as minarets in Iran were previously positioned above the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. A blue faience dome was rebuilt with poured concrete in the 1960's, above the southern iwan. The convex part of the dome’s shell is decorated with an inscription in the

Kufic The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...

script. The complete surface of the minarets, walls, and the surrounding colonnades are decorated with fine mosaic and glazed tiles produced in a variety of colors including ultramarine, turquoise, white, clear green, yellow, light yellow, and ebony. The mosque is known for its tile mosaic decoration, an art form that peaked during the Timurid period. On a high base of marble revetment, panels of enamel brick and tilework are arranged in two stories that run around the ''sahn'', capped by a band of calligraphy designed by Baysunghur, a son of Gawhar Shad. Vivid, energetic floral patterns in tile and geometric schemes in brick are used in alternation, emphasizing the strong rhythm around the ''sahn''. In 1965 a scholar of Persian architecture described the beautiful mosque as the first, and the greatest surviving, Persian monument of the fifteenth century:

Gallery

Goharshad-mosque-mashhad-IRAN.jpg, Goharshad-mosque-mashhad-IRAN-main.jpg GowharShad Mosque - unknown date - maybe before 1945.jpg Mausoleum of Omar Khayyám.jpg

Notes

References

External links

{{Authority control 15th-century mosques in Iran Buildings and structures completed in 1418 Buildings and structures in Mashhad Imam Reza shrine Mosque buildings with domes in Iran Mosque buildings with minarets in Iran Mosques completed in the 1410s Mosques in Razavi Khorasan province Sunni mosques in Iran Timurid architecture Tourist attractions in Razavi Khorasan province