FRIDAY MOSQUE (MASJED-E DJOMEH)

It's definitely the most beautiful monument in Kerman. Erected in 1349 by a local dynasty reigning in the timourous era, the great mosque presents remarkable earthquakes to the extraordinary shades of blue that are not without reference to the cupolas of Ispahan or, more distant, from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and cover the entire building. When entering, take the time to detail the great pishtaq or entrance portal, disproportionately large, giving access to the north iwan, whose torsades and mosaics, turquoise and white, are beautiful. Note the representation of peacock and fish, the only two animals tolerated by Shiite Islam in terms of figurative art, symbols respective of heaven and purity. Across the south iwan, the mirhab is sumptuously opened.

Much of the current building, however, was redesigned in the seventeenth century during the safavide period, then again in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The interior courtyard decoration, marked by four narrow iwan, perfectly illustrates the Qadjar style.