Built by Shah 'Abbas in 1451 as the climax of his reconstruction of Isfahan, this mosque has a number of important architectural innovations. Following the Iranian traditional mosque plan, the Shah mosque has a court surrounded by a two-story arcade on fo
Built by Shah 'Abbas in 1451 as the climax of his reconstruction of Isfahan, this mosque has a number of important architectural innovations. Following the Iranian traditional mosque plan, the Shah mosque has a court surrounded by a two-story arcade on four sides with four iwans, one at the center of each side, and a domed sanctuary behind the southwest iwan, oriented towards Mecca. However, the mosque's plan presents an interesting variation: behind each lateral iwan (on the northwest and southeast) is a domed chamber. The domed sanctuary behind the southwest iwan is flanked by rectangular rooms functioning as winter prayer halls that are entered from the domed sanctuary aligned on the northeast-southwest axis. These halls are covered by eight domes and connect to two rectangular arcaded courts serving as madrasas also aligned on the northeast-southwest axis and are only accessed from the domed chambers behind the southeast and northwest iwans, respectively. Both the main portal iwan, overlooking the maydan, and the sanctuary iwan are flanked by a pair of soaring cylindrical minarets. Isfahan is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran.
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