Jameh Mosque of Ferdows: A Historic Shia Friday Mosque in Iran
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Iran
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Safavid, Seljuk
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Mosque
On this page8 sections
History
Jameh Mosque of Ferdows is a historic Shia Friday mosque in Ferdows, Iran, generally attributed to the Seljuk period and usually dated to the eleventh century. A Friday mosque is a principal congregational mosque used for communal Friday prayer. The building stands in the archaeological area of old Toon, in the southwestern part of the city, and continues to serve as a place of worship.
Early history and Seljuk origins
The mosque’s earliest known historical mention appears in the second half of the fourth century AH, in al-Muqaddasi’s geographical work Ahsan al-Taqasim. Its construction is generally associated with the Seljuks, a medieval Turkic ruling dynasty whose patronage shaped Islamic architecture across Iran. Most dating places the building in the eleventh century, although some researchers assign its construction to the seventh century. An official opening date of 1010 is also recorded.
Safavid rebuilding
A severe earthquake in the early Safavid period caused the eastern iwan, a large vaulted space open on one side, and the mosque’s payab, a subterranean access structure associated with a lower water source, to collapse. The Safavid dynasty ruled Iran from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and established Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion. After the earthquake, three sides of the mosque were rebuilt, while the qibla iwan and the domed chambers on either side of it survived. The rebuilt sides were set slightly behind the earlier lines.
Qajar alteration and later protection
During the early Qajar period, a roofed prayer hall called the Akhund Molla Akbar Shabestan was added along the eastern side. The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. The hall originally contained 100 thick columns, but the earthquake of 1347 in the Iranian calendar completely destroyed it.
Jameh Mosque of Ferdows was entered on Iran’s National Heritage List under registration number 1222 on 15 December 1975. Its protection and conservation are administered through Iran’s cultural-heritage authorities, while the mosque remains in religious use.
Remains
Layout and construction
The surviving building is a two-iwan mosque in the Khorasani architectural tradition. Brick and plaster form its principal materials. The qibla iwan and the domed chambers flanking it belong to the elements that survived the early Safavid earthquake and the rebuilding that followed. The eastern side also preserves the historical association of the former Akhund Molla Akbar prayer hall, whose columned arrangement was destroyed in the earthquake of 1347 in the Iranian calendar.
Western iwan
The western iwan has an exposed-brick decorative facade associated with the fifth and sixth centuries AH and with Seljuk construction. It rises 16 metres and is covered by a vault-and-rib system characteristic of Khorasani architecture. Its brick decoration repeats a geometric form within panels measuring 60 by 60 centimetres. Tile pieces originally filled the open spaces in the brickwork, and three or four irregularly placed pieces remain visible. Traces of painted decoration survive on plaster across the interior surface of the iwan.
Eastern prayer hall
The eastern side formerly held the Akhund Molla Akbar Shabestan, a roofed prayer hall added during the early Qajar period. Its interior was arranged around 100 thick columns. The hall was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1347 in the Iranian calendar, leaving its place as part of the mosque’s documented architectural history.
