GREAT MOSQUE OF GOHAR SHAD (MASJED-E AZIM-E GOHAR SHAD)

More interesting in architectural terms than the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the Great Mosque is the most beautiful edifice of the sacred enclosure. Its dome reaches 50 m under cupola and its high golden portal seems as impressive as that of the great Royal Mosque in Isfahan.

Queen of a powerful empire, wife of the Shah Rokh, patron patron of the arts, Gohar Shad will be one of the most prominent women in the history of Islam. While most of its architectural achievements are concentrated in Herat, the Machhad mosque is the best preserved.

Built between 1405 and 1418, the great mosque of Gohar Shad has four iwan and two minarets distributed around a large, closed courtyard decorated with turquoise blue tiles enhanced by a few yellow calligraphy. Flanked by its two minarets, the southern iwan opens onto the mihrab hall, surmounted by a 40 m high dome (higher than the golden dome of Imam Reza Mausoleum). The minbar (at two steps from the mihrab), according to the legend, should welcome the Mahdi (the hidden imam) when he reappears at the end of the time. Remember the finesse of the motifs and the calligraphy.