Goharshad Mosque

Goharshad Mosque
مسجد گوهرشاد
The turquoise dome of Goharshad Mosque adjacent to the dome of Imam Reza Shrine
Location of the mosque in Iran
Religion
Affiliation	Shia Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Friday mosque
Status	Active
Location
Location	Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province
Country	Iran
Administration	Astan Quds Razavi
Coordinates	36°17′15″N 59°36′53″E
Architecture
Architect	Ghavameddin Shirazi
Type	Mosque architecture
Style	Timurid
Founder	Empress Goharshad
Groundbreaking	1418 CE
Completed	c. 1430 CE
Specifications
Dome	One
Dome height (outer)	43 m (141 ft)
Dome dia. (outer)	15 m (49 ft)
Minaret	Two
Minaret height	43 m (141 ft)
Site area	10,000 m2 (110,000 sq ft)
Materials	Bricks; plaster; concrete; ceramic tiles; mosaics; marble
Iran National Heritage List
Official name	Goharshad Mosque
Type	Built
Designated	6 January 1932
Part of	Imam Reza Shrine
Reference no.	140
Conservation organization	Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran

The Goharshad Mosque (Persian: مسجد گوهرشاد, romanized: Masjed-e Guharshād; Arabic: مسجد كوهرشاد) is a historic grand Friday mosque that is part of the Imam Reza Shrine complex, located in Mashhad, in the province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. It was commissioned by Empress Goharshad, the wife of Sultan Shah Rukh during the Timurid Empire. Construction began in 1418 CE and was completed around 1430 CE.

History

The idea of constructing a monumental mosque in the Imam Reza Shrine emerged during the Timurid Empire, when Goharshad Begum, the influential wife of Shah Rukh (r. 1405–1447 CE), sought to transform the shrine into a magnificent religious complex worthy of the dynasty's capital in Khorasan. She commissioned the celebrated architect Qavam al-Din Shirazi, one of the greatest architects of the Timurid era. Construction began in 1418 CE (821 AH) and was completed around 1430 CE (833 AH). The mosque was built in the classical Persian four-iwan style, featuring a vast courtyard, monumental iwans, a double-shelled turquoise dome, two minarets, and richly decorated mosaic tilework. The famous inscription on the southern iwan was executed by Baysunghur, the son of Goharshad and one of the greatest calligraphers of the Timurid court.

For centuries the mosque remained the principal congregational mosque of the shrine and underwent periodic repairs under the Safavids, Afsharids, Qajars, and other rulers. In the 1960s, the dome 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. The damaged tiles were replaced based on the original Timurid tilework, ensuring that the mosque retained its historical appearance.

Goharshad Mosque rebellion

On 13 July 1935, armed forces of Reza Shah, the reigning monarch of Iran and founder of Pahlavi dynasty, invaded the shrine and massacred people inside the Goharshad Mosque. The people there were protesting against the westernizing and secularist policies of Reza Shah which many, especially amongst the clergy, considered to be anti-Islamic. The Shah's violent Westernization campaign against the Muslim society saw a spike in hostilities with the regime in the summer of 1935, when Reza Shah banned the Islamic clothing and ordered all men to be forced to wear European-style bowler hats.

The exact number of people killed remains disputed among historians. Some contemporary foreign reports estimated that around 128 people were killed, with several hundred wounded and many arrested. However, later Iranian accounts have claimed much higher figures, ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 deaths, although these numbers are debated. Most historians agree that hundreds of people were killed.

Architecture

Located to the south of the Imam Reza Shrine, 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 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft), the mosque consists of a large azure dome, two 43-metre-high (141 ft) minarets, four verandas, a sahn with seven big bed-chambers, and a large altar made of a stony dado and mosaic faience 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 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 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, Arthur Pope, a scholar of Persian art described the beautiful mosque as the first and the greatest surviving Persian monument of the 15th century:

Its portal continues the Samarkand style of arch within arch, enriched by a succession of bevels and reveals that give it depth and power. The thick, tower-like minarets, merging with the outer corners of the portal screen, extend to the ground and, together with the high foundation revetment of marble, give the ensemble the impression of solidity necessary to support its exuberant color. The entire court façade is faced with enamel brick and mosaic faience of the finest quality…

— Arthur Pope, Persian Architecture: The Triumph of Form and Color.

Gallery

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See also

• Shia Islam in Iran
• List of mosques in Iran
• Greater Khorasan
• Ali ar-Ridha
• Goharshad Mosque rebellion

Further reading

• Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. Bloom (1994). The Art and Architecture of Islam. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Byron, Robert (1977). "Timurid Architecture". In Pope, Arthur Upham; Ackerman, Phyllis (assistant) (eds.). A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present,. Vol. 3: Architecture, Its Ornament, City Plans, Gardens (3rd ed.). Tehran: Soroush Press. pp. 1119–1164.
• Golombek, Lisa; Wilber, Donald (1988). The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan, Volume I. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Hutt, Anthony (1978). "Iran". In Michell, George (ed.). Architecture of the Islamic World. New York: Thames and Hudson. pp. 251–258.
• O'Kane, Bernard (1987). Timurid Architecture in Khurasan. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
• Pope, Arthur Upham (1965). Persian Architecture. New York: George Braziller. ISBN 978-0-8076-0308-6.
• Pope, Arthur Upham (1977). "The Safavid Period". In Pope, Arthur Upham; Ackerman, Phyllis (assistant) (eds.). A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 3: Architecture, Its Ornament, City Plans, Gardens (3rd ed.). Tehran: Soroush Press. pp. 1165–1225.

External links

Media related to Goharshad Mosque at Wikimedia Commons