THE MINARETS

They appear on the horizon like factory chimneys or table feet. In total, they are five to be still standing. The somewhat isolated minaret, to the east of the mausoleum, was one of those who marked the entrance of madrasas. In the north of the mausoleum, the four minarets come from the reign of Sultan Hussain Baïqara, the last of the Mongol emperors of Hérât. These minarets survived the collapse of the Timurid Empire and the successive assaults by Uzbeks and Persians.

Around madrasas, there were originally twelve minarets, but six were destroyed by the British. The mosque was adorned with its corners of four minarets that survived the destruction. Two of them fell in the earthquakes of 1928 and 1931, and the third in 1951. The last minaret of the mosque was almost destroyed in the 1984 s by Soviet fire. It only remains its base, 12 m high.