Imam Mosque Isfahan

Imam Mosque, is a mosque in Isfahan, Iran stand up in south office of Naghsh-i Jahan Square. Built during the Safavid period, it is an excellent example of Moslem computer architecture of Iran, and regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian Architecture. The Shah Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran. It is registered, along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its bodily structure began in 1611, and its splendor is importantly due to the beauty of its seven-colour mosaic covers and calligraphic inscriptions.The mosque is one of the treasures featured on Around the World in 80 Treasures presented by the architecture historian Dan Cruickshank. The mosque is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 20,000 rials bank none. 1 History Shah AbbasCopper engraving by Dominicus Custos, from his Atrium heroicum Caesarum pub. 16001602. In 1598, when Shah Abbas decided to give the sack the metropolis of his Persia n empire from the northwestern city of Qazvin to the interchange city of Isfahan, he initiated what would become one of the greatest programmes in Persian memoir the complete remaking of this ancient city.By choosing the key city of Isfahan, fertilized by the Zayandeh River (The life-giving river), lying as an oasis of intense cultivation in the middle of a vast area of arid landscape, he twain distanced his capital from any(prenominal) future assaults by the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, and at the same time gained much control over the Persian Gulf, which had recently become an master(prenominal) craft route for the Dutch and British East India Companies. 2The chief architect of this long task of urban planning was Shaykh Bahai (Baha ad-Din al-Amili), who focused the programme on deuce key features of Shah Abbass master plan the Chahar Bagh avenue, flanked at either side by all the prominent institutions of the city, such(prenominal) as the residences of all unlike dignita ries, and the Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Examplar of the World). 3 Prior to the Shahs ascent to mogul, Persia had a decentralized power structure, in which different institutions disputed for power, including both the military (the Qizilbash) and governors of the different provinces making up the empire.Shah Abbas wanted to undermine this political structure, and the recreation of Isfahan, as a gold capital of Persia, was an important step in centralizing the power. 4 The tact of the material, or Maidan, was that, by building it, Shah Abbas would gather the three main components of power in Persia in his own backyard the power of the clergy, represented by the Masjed-e Shah, the power of the merchants, represented by the The Imperial Bazaar, and of course, the power of the Shah himself, residing in the Ali Qapu Palace.The crown jewel in this project was the Masjed-e Shah, which would replace the much older Jameh Mosque in conducting the Friday prayers. To achieve this, the Shah Mos que was constructed not altogether with vision of grandeur, having the largest loft in the city, still Shaykh Bahai too planned the construction of both religious schools and a overwinter mosque clamped at either side of it. 5 Because of the Shahs desire to start out the building completed during his lifetime, shortcuts were taken in the construction for example, the Shah ignored warnings by one of the architects Abul Qasim regarding the danger of subsidence in the imbedations of the mosque, and he pressed ahead with the construction. 6 The architect proved to have been justified, as in 1662 the building had to undergo major repairs. 7 Also, the Persians invented a sun ride(prenominal) direction of tile mosaic (the Seven-colour) that was both cheaper and quicker, and that eventually speed up the construction.This job was masterly do by much or less of the best craftsmen in the country, and the whole work was supervised by Master calligrapher, Reza Abbasi. In the end, the final exam touches on the mosque were make in late 1629, few months after the demolition of the Shah. Also, many a(prenominal) historians have wondered about the peculiar orientation of The Royal square (The Maidan). Unlike most buildings of importance, this square did not lie in conjunctive with Mecca, so that when entering the debut- vena portae of the mosque, one makes, almost without realising it, the half-right turn, which enables the main court deep pull down to face Mecca.Donald Wilber gives the most plausible explanation to this the vision of Shaykh Bahai was for the mosque to be visible wherever in the maydan a person was situated. Had the axis vertebra of the maydan coincided with the axis of Mecca, the bonce of the mosque would have been concealed from facet by the towering magnetise portal leading to it. By creating an angle between them, the two part of the building, the entrance portal and the bean, are in perfect view for everyone indoors the square to admire. 8 Architecture and design The entrance iwan with its towering window dressing innovation the four-iwan styleThe Safavids founded the Shah Mosque as a channel through which they could express themselves with their numerous architectural techniques. The four-iwan jumpat, finalized by the Seljuq dynasty, and inherited by the Safavids, firmly established the courtyard facade of such mosques, with the towering gateways at every side, as more important than the actual building itself. 9 During Seljuq rule, as Islamic mysticism was on the rise and Persians were looking for a new type of architectural design that emphasise an Iranian identity, the four-iwan ar concatenationment took form.The Persians already had a fecund architectural legacy, and the distinct shape of the iwan was actually taken from earlier, Sassanid palace-designs,9 such as The Palace of Ardashir. Thus, Islamic architecture witnessed the emergence of a new brand that differed from the hypostyle design of the early, Arab mosques, such as the Umayyad Mosque. The four-iwan format typically took the form of a square shaped, central courtyard with large entrances at each side, giving the impression of existence gateways to the spiritual world.Painting by the French architect, Pascal Coste, visiting Persia in 1841. The delineation shows the main courtyard, with two of the iwans. The iwan to the right is topped by the goldast, which in many Persian mosques had replaced the function of the minarets. Standing in the public square, or Maidan, the entrance-iwan (gateway) to the mosque takes the form of a semicircle, resembling a recessed half-moon and measuring stick 27 meters in height, the arch framed by turquoise ornament and decorated with rich stalactite tilework, a distinct feature of Persian Islamic architecture.At the sides rise two minarets, 42 meters high, topped by beautifully mould, wooden balconies with stalactites running down the sides. Master calligrapher of the Royal court , Reza Abbasi, inscribed the date of the groundbreaking of the construction, and similarly it, verses praising Muhammad and Ali. 10 In the middle, in front of the entrance, stood a small kitty-cat and a resting place for the horses, and inside the worshippers found a large stain basin set on a pedestal, filled with fresh water system or lemonade.This basin still stands as it has for four hundred years, but no longer serves the function of providing refreshments to the worshipers at the Friday prayers. When passing through the entrance portal, one reaches the main courtyard, centered around a large pool. The two gateways (iwans) on the sides leads ones attention to the main gateway at the far end, the only one with minarets, and behind it the lofty bean plant, with its colorful ornamentation. The distinct feature of any mosque is the minaret, and the Masjed-e Shah has four.Still, in Persian mosques, tall minarets were considered unsuitable for the call to prayer, and they would a dd an aedicule, know in Persian as a goldast (bouquet) for this particular purpose, which in the Masjed-e Shah stands on top of the west iwan. 11 The Religious Buildings Interior view of the winter mosque, construct as a typical hypostyle mosque. Inside, the acoustic properties and reflections at the central question under the dome is an amusing interest for many visitors, as the ingenuity of the architects, when creating the dome, enables the Imam to speak with a subdued voice and still be heard clearly by everyone inside the building.The mihrab, a large marble tablet ten feet tall and three feet wide on the southwest wall, indicated the direction of Mecca. higher up it the Shahs men had placed a gold-encrusted cupboard of kick wood. It held two relics a Quran, said to have been copied by Imam Reza, and the gory robe of Imam Hussain. Although never displayed, the robe was said to have magical powers lifted on the end of a pike in the battle field, the belief was that it coul d rout an enemy. 12 From the main courtyard, the iwan pointing to east commanded a religious school, or madrasa.It contains an inscription by calligrapher Muhammad Riza Imami praising the Fourteen Immaculate Ones (i. e. , Muhammad, Fatimah and The 12 Imams). The iwan in the western corner leads to another madrasa and a winter mosque. In its own, private courtyard, one can find the famous sundial made by Shaykh Bahai. The dome As with iwans, the accession of domes into Islamic architectural designs was done by the Persians. The oldest such building is the Grand Mosque of Zavareh, dating 1135. 13 The Persians had constructed such domes for centuries before, and some of the earliest known examples of large-scale domes in the World are found in Iran, an example being the The Maiden Castle. So, the Safavid Muslims borrowed heavily from pre-Islamic knowledge in dome-building, i. e. the use of squinches to pee a transition from an octagonal structure, into a beak dome. To cover up the se transition zones, the Persians built rich networks of stalactites. Thus, came also the introduction of this feature into Persian mosques. A renaissance in Persian dome building was initiated by the Safavids.The distinct feature of Persian domes, which separates them from those domes created in the Christian world or the Ottoman and Mughal empires, was the colorful tiles, with which they covered the exterior of their domes, as they would on the interior. These domes soon numbered dozens in Isfahan, and the distinct, blue-colored shape would dominate the horizon of the city. Reflecting the light of the sun, these domes appeared like glittering turquoise gem and could be seen from miles past by travelers following the Silk road through Persia.Reaching 53 meters in height, the dome of the Masjed-e Shah would become the tallest in the city when it was finished in 1629. It was built as a stunt woman-shelled dome, with 14 meters spanning between the two layers, and resting on an oct agonal dome chamber. 14 Art Mosaic detail, as found in the Shah Mosque, showing Quranic calligraphy written in Thuluth script (photo taken at the Lotfallah Mosque). Interior view of the lofty dome covered with polychrome tiles, intended to give the attestator a sense of heavenly transcendence.The Masjed-e Shah was a huge structure, said to contain 18 million bricks and 475,000 tiles, having cost the Shah 60,000 tomans to build. 15 It employed the new haft rangi (seven-colour) style of tile mosaic. In earlier Iranian mosques the tiles had been made of faience mosaic, a deadening and expensive process where tiny pieces are cut from monochrome tiles and assembled to create intricate designs. In the haft rangi method, artisans put on all the colour at once, then fired the tile. Cheaper and quicker, the new procedure allowed a wider range of colors to be used, creating richer patterns, sweeter to the eye. 716 According to Jean Chardin, it was the low humidity in the air in Persia that made the colors so much more vivid and the contrasts between the different patterns so much stronger than what could be achieved in Europe, where the colors of tiles turned dull and lost its appearance. 17Still, most contemporary and new-fangled writers regard the tile work of the Masjed-e Shah as inferior in both quality and beauty compared to those covering the Lotfallah Mosque, the latter often referred to by contemporary Persian historians, such as Iskandar Munshi, as the mosque of great purity and beauty. 18 The architects also employed a great deal of marble, which they gathered from a marble quarry in nearby Ardestan. 7 Throughout the building, from the entrance portal and to the main building, the lower two meters of the walls are covered with beige marble, with beautifully carved poles at each side of every doorway and carved inscriptions throughout. Above this level begins the mosaic tiles that cover the rest of the building. The entrance portal of the mosque displays th e finest tile decoration in the building.It is entirely executed in tile mosaic in a full palette of seven colors (dark Persian blue, light Turkish blue, white, black, yellow, green and bisquit). A wide inscription round with religious texts written in white thuluth script on a dark blue ground frames the iwan. The tiles in the Masjed-e Shah are predominantly blue, draw in the covered halls of the building, which were later revetted in tiles of cooler, yellowy-green shades. 16 Facing northwards, the mosques portal to the Maidan is usually under shadow but since it has been coated with radiant tile mosaics it glitters with a predominantly blue light of extraordinary intensity.The ornamentation of the structures is abruptly traditional, as it recaptures the classic Iranian motifs of symbolic appeal for fruitfulness and effectiveness. within the symmetrical arcades and the balanced iwans, one is drowned by the endless waves of intricate arabesque in golden yellow and dark blue, whi ch bless the spectator with a plaza of internal serenity. Architects The architects of the mosque are reported to be the following masters10 * Muhibb Ali knock (Supervisor of the project, and also the imperial treasurer) * Ostad Shaykh Bahai (Chief architect) * Ostad Ali Beg Isfahani * Ostad Badi al-Zaman Ostad Abul Qasim Measurements The port of the mosque measures 27 m (89 ft) high, crowned with two minarets 42 m (138 ft) tall. The Mosque is surrounded with four iwans and arcades. completely the walls are ornamented with seven-color mosaic tile. The most magnificent iwan of the mosque is the one facing the Qibla measuring 33 m (108 ft) high. Behind this iwan is a space which is roofed with the largest dome in the city at 52 m (171 ft) height. The dome is double layered. The whole of the construction measures 100 by 130 metres (330 ft 430 ft), with the central courtyard measuring 70 by 70 metres (230 ft 230 ft).