Culture of Persia ( INCREDIBLE PICTURES ! )

[IRAN 1802]

Subhanallah!

الله اکبر

 

[Arminkh]

What a shot !!! ... yar ... if Iran did not had sanctions would be first country I would love to visit

I highly suggest you still do. Read the comments from the westerners who have recently traveled to Iran. It is both cheap (due to fall of Iran's currency exchange rate) and something to remember for the rest of your life.

beautiful , i wish to visit Iran someday .

You are most welcome when you do. Definitely visit these three cities: Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd. Below two pictures are showing two historic bridges that are more than 400 years old in Shiraz:

33 Pole:

And Khajoo:

 

[xenon54 out]

Is it possible that there is a typo in thread title?

 

[al-Hasani]

Very nice thread @IRAN 1802

What has surprised me when doing additional research on those mosques pictured and mentioned is that they are all built fairly recently. For instance the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque of Shiraz was built in 1888. Other mosques on that list were also built "fairly" recently. Meaning 350-200 years ago. What am I trying to say with those observations? Well, simply that it is great to see that such architecture was still cared for despite it not being constructed THAT long ago. Especially considering the fact that most new architecture in the ME region is mostly tasteless and nothing like the great traditional architecture that characterizes our region.

The problem is that making architecture and such art is not a craft that everybody learns overnight. I fear that such art might die out one day and that only cheap replicas can be reproduced. That would be a shame. In the Arab world I know for a fact that many local crafts are dying out.

This has inspired me to maybe make a similar thread about mosques in the Arab world.

P.S: That's some wonderful photography as well. I have photography as one of my many hobbies which some users might have noticed (lol) so I could immediately tell that those photos were taken by someone that knew his craft. Marvelous composition.

 

[Serpentine]

Very nice thread @IRAN 1802

What has surprised me when doing additional research on those mosques pictured and mentioned is that they are all built fairly recently. For instance the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque of Shiraz was built in 1888. Other mosques on that list were also built "fairly" recently. Meaning 350-200 years ago. What am I trying to say with those observations? Well, simply that it is great to see that such architecture was still cared for despite it not being constructed THAT long ago. Especially considering the fact that most new architecture in the ME region is mostly tasteless and nothing like the great traditional architecture that characterizes our region.

The problem is that making architecture and such art is not a craft that everybody learns overnight. I fear that such art might die out one day and that only cheap replicas can be reproduced. That would be a shame. In the Arab world I know for a fact that many local crafts are dying out.

This has inspired me to maybe make a similar thread about mosques in the Arab world.

P.S: That's some wonderful photography as well. I have photography as one of my many hobbies which some users might have noticed (lol) so I could immediately tell that those photos were taken by someone that knew his craft. Marvelous composition.

Many of these fancy mosques were built not more than 400-500 years ago, but we do also have very old mosques.

Oldest mosque in Iran, located in Fahraj, Yazd Province was built in first century (Islamic calender, before 50 Hijri) and together with Tarikhane mosque in Damghan, these 2 mosques are assumed to be the only old mosques in Muslim countries which have retained their original plan, architecture and structure (neglecting very few renovations, I can't verify that completely since there might be very few other mosques who have remained exactly the same since their sonstruction 1400 years ago).

FAHRAJ, subdistrict (dehestān) and town in the Persian province of Yazd. The town (31ò 46’ N, 54ò 35’ E), 1270 m above sea level, is located 30 km southeast of Yazd on the main road to Bāfq and on the foothill of Čalta mountain (Farhang-e joḡrāfiāʾi,p. 70). In 1996 the population of the town was 16,549 (Markaz-e Amār-e Iran, p. 9). The local people are Persian-speaking and Shiʿite. Fahraj is situated in an arid environment on the desert fringe, and its irrigation is from qanāts and deep wells. The economy is basically agricultural with some carpet weaving. The main agricultural produce is wheat and fruits such as pomegranates, grapes, apples and apricots.

Jaʿfari, in his Tāriḵ-e Yazd (p. 30) attributes the foundation of Fahraj to Qobād (Kawād), the Sasanian king. The tenth century geographers called it Bahra and ranked it together with Meybod and Nāʾin as major settlements of Yazd, in the kura(province) of Eṣṭaḵr, each having a congressional mosque (Eṣṭaḵri, p. 97; Moqaddasi, pp. 75, 424; cf. Ḥodud al-ʿĀlam, ed. Sotuda, p. 137). Abu’l-Fedāʾ (p. 330) gives its geographical coordinates, an information provided for important locations only (Šokuhi, p. 16).

In the early Islamic years the inhabitants of Fahraj were Zoroastrian (Moḥammad Mofid, III, p. 542). During the caliphate of ʿOmar part of the Moslem army who were chasing Yazdegerd III arrived at Fahraj and called the people to convert to the new faith. The inhabitants of Fahraj as well as those of Ḵovaydak and Farāftar resisted, they fought back and killed a number of the Prophet’s companions and the following generation (ṣaḥāba and tābeʿin) who came to be known later as šohadā-ye Fahraj{The Martyrs of Fahraj} (Aḥmad b. Ḥosayn, pp. 48 f.; Jaʿfari, p. 31; Mofid, III, pp. 543, 707f.). Today the mausoleums of these alleged martyrs are in Ābādi-e Šohadā, 2 km from Fahraj.

The congregational mosque of Fahraj is located at the center of the present town. It is among the oldest extant mosques in Persia; it demonstrates the simple architectural characteristics of the early Islamic centuries. Its basic construction material is large sun-dried bricks, whereas the façade is coated with sim-gel (mixture of clay, sand and chopped straw), gel-rig, and plaster bracing (cefthā-ye gaci). The minaret was built in 10th or 11th century and is made of smaller raw bricks. The elegant stucco reliefs on the eastern wall and some other decorative pieces possess Sasanian art features (Šokuhi, p. 22). It is believed that there have been hiding places in the mosque in which people would hide their valuables during chaotic times (Pirniā, pp. 331-36).

And here are great interactive panoramic views:

Jameh mosque of Fahraj ( Probably the oldest extant mosque in Iran ) panorama in Iran - 360Cities

iFilm English

-------------------------------------------------------

2 other old mosques in Iran Tarikhane and Fahraj have borrowed heavily from Sassanid architecture from pre-Islamic era since the influence of Islam was not that high yet in first century).

Tarikhane mosque in Damghan, Semnan:

This mosque is located to the south-east of Damghan and is one of the best examples of the first mosques in Iran.Its the oldest Islamic structure which has preserved its Sassanis characteristics.
There have been long disputes over the approximate time of its building.However, because of the style it has been attributed to even before 200 A.H. The overall look of the mosque implies simplicity.

Yet the experts see a royal elegancy which is very eye-catching and attractive. it resembles faith, humbleness and unconditional trust. It undoubtedly is a Sassani structure form the material and style point of view.
The ceilings without walls and supported only by cylinders are sure architecture of Sassani dynasty fashion. The archeologist Andre Godare wrote: The map of this mosque is the simplest, purest and the most scientific one from the beginning of Islam.

Further read:

iranian medieval history | Tarikhane Mosque, Its Holiness and Continuity of Function

-----------------------------------------------------

Ferdows Jameh mosque in cirty of Ferdows, Khorasan province which is thought to have been built in 7th century, but some say it was built in 11th century.

Jameh Mosque of Ferdows - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

-------------------------------------

Barsian mosque in Isfahan built in 1105 AD:

Barsian mosque and minaret - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 other mosques built in 15th century:

Tabriz blue mosque:

Blue Mosque, Tabriz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nishapur mosque in Khorasan

Jameh Mosque of Nishapur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

------------------------------------------------------------------------


There are many other old mosques built around 1100 AD and afterwards, I could introduce some others of you are interested. In this post, I could only put ten pics.

 

[IRAN 1802]

Very nice thread @IRAN 1802

What has surprised me when doing additional research on those mosques pictured and mentioned is that they are all built fairly recently. For instance the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque of Shiraz was built in 1888. Other mosques on that list were also built "fairly" recently. Meaning 350-200 years ago. What am I trying to say with those observations? Well, simply that it is great to see that such architecture was still cared for despite it not being constructed THAT long ago. Especially considering the fact that most new architecture in the ME region is mostly tasteless and nothing like the great traditional architecture that characterizes our region.

The problem is that making architecture and such art is not a craft that everybody learns overnight. I fear that such art might die out one day and that only cheap replicas can be reproduced. That would be a shame. In the Arab world I know for a fact that many local crafts are dying out.

This has inspired me to maybe make a similar thread about mosques in the Arab world.

P.S: That's some wonderful photography as well. I have photography as one of my many hobbies which some users might have noticed (lol) so I could immediately tell that those photos were taken by someone that knew his craft. Marvelous composition.

Thanks u are welcome. I think Serpentine gave the complete answer.

Many of these fancy mosques were built not more than 400-500 years ago, but we do also have very old mosques.

Oldest mosque in Iran, located in Fahraj, Yazd Province was built in first century (Islamic calender, before 50 Hijri) and together with Tarikhane mosque in Damghan, these 2 mosques are assumed to be the only old mosques in Muslim countries which have retained their original plan, architecture and structure (neglecting very few renovations, I can't verify that completely since there might be very few other mosques who have remained exactly the same since their sonstruction 1400 years ago).

And here are great interactive panoramic views:

Jameh mosque of Fahraj ( Probably the oldest extant mosque in Iran ) panorama in Iran - 360Cities

iFilm English

-------------------------------------------------------

2 other old mosques in Iran Tarikhane and Fahraj have borrowed heavily from Sassanid architecture from pre-Islamic era since the influence of Islam was not that high yet in first century).

Tarikhane mosque in Damghan, Semnan:




Further read:

iranian medieval history | Tarikhane Mosque, Its Holiness and Continuity of Function

-----------------------------------------------------

Ferdows Jameh mosque in cirty of Ferdows, Khorasan province which is thought to have been built in 7th century, but some say it was built in 11th century.

Jameh Mosque of Ferdows - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

-------------------------------------

Barsian mosque in Isfahan built in 1105 AD:

Barsian mosque and minaret - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 other mosques built in 15th century:

Tabriz blue mosque:

Blue Mosque, Tabriz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nishapur mosque in Khorasan

Jameh Mosque of Nishapur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

------------------------------------------------------------------------


There are many other old mosques built around 1100 AD and afterwards, I could introduce some others of you are interested. In this post, I could only put ten pics.

Thank u brother for your complete answer.

 

[IRAN 1802]

Some pictures of Isfahan:

Chehel Sotoun

Chehel Sotoun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holy Qur'an in kufic script with annexation of Imam Hasan (a.s):

 

[IRAN 1802]

Blue Mosque of Tabriz:

Must see:

Blue Mosque of Tabriz, Turquoise of Islam

 

[The Last of us]

Absolutely stunning pictures...
Iranic architecture is mesmerizing...

Why is brother @IRAN 1802 banned?

 

[Reem]

I wish I can visit these places some day! So majestic and awe inspiring!

 

[Arminkh]

We talked about old Iranian architecture, let's talk about new ones. This is out of this world! haha!:

ust the place for a well-seasoned meal! Inside Iran's newest restaurant ... made entirely out of SALT

• Salt Restaurant Shiraz in southern Iran was inspired by salt caves
• Architects claim the mineral cleanses the building of cooking smells
• Walls, bar, tables and chairs are all made from locally-sourced salt

By ANUCYIA VICTOR FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 14:45 GMT, 12 January 2015 | UPDATED: 15:39 GMT, 12 January 2015


If you like a sprinkle of salt or two on your food, then this is definitely the restaurant for you.

The walls, bar, tables, and chairs of Salt Restaurant Shiraz are made entirely from the mineral, and even the stairs have a smooth, salty coating.

Inspired by salt caves, the architects of the eatery in southern Iran claim their building material cleanses the two-storey bistro of cooking smells and creates positive ions in the atmosphere.

+4
The two-storey restaurant in Shiraz, southern Iran, is made entirely from locally sourced salt

The interior of the restaurant has been designed to twist and turn like the salt caves they were modelled on

The choice of salt as the main material in the restaurant was used to promote the concept of green construction, news website Iran Front Page reported.

The designers, from the Iranian-based firm Emtiaz Designing Group, said they wanted to make sure the interiors twisted and turned just like they do in salt caves.

The building is made from environmentally sustainable, locally sourced and affordable salt, powder and rock.

A spokesman from the architects said: 'Salt is a natural disinfectant and the ions it releases also purify and filter the air, making it the perfect material for a restaurant.

'In this particular case, the walls, structural sculptures and ceilings are made from salt sourced from the nearby salt mines and salt lake of Shiraz which was mixed with natural gum to harden it.

+4
The walls, structural sculptures and ceilings are all made from salt sourced from nearby mines

+4
Salt has been known as a powerful health remedy since ancient times, the architects said

He added: 'Salt suffers a bad reputation in gastronomy thanks to its overuse in most diets, meaning that most people are not aware of its astonishing healing powers.

'But in fact salt has been known as a powerful health remedy since ancient times, especially for respiratory health and detoxification.

'In many ways, these two functions are the foundation of overall health. Even Hippocrates prescribed salt water inhalation therapy for bronchial and lung disorders.'

Salt therapy involves the therapeutic use of time spent in salt mines, salt caves, or other forms of salt exposure to treat medical conditions, often with remarkable results.



Read more: Inside Iran's Salt Restaurant Shiraz made entirely out of SALT | Daily Mail Online