The Imam Reza shrine or the Razavi shrine is the shrine of Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (the eighth Imam of the Twelver Shias). Located in the center of Mashhad in the Khorasan Razavi province, this place is honored by the Shiites as a “shrine” and a sacred and holy place. It is one of the best and most relaxing sacred places for Muslims and Iranians. Every year, 20 million pilgrims from all over the world travel to Mashhad to visit Imam Reza shrine. The Imam Reza shrine is one of the historical monuments of Iran that for many years has been considered by the kings and governments and besides being a sacred shrine, it has historical architectural value. The shrine of Imam Reza forms the largest religious place in the world, covering an area of one million square meters. The shrine has now reached 12,000 square meters with a capacity of 700,000. Tombs, mosques, domes, Goldasteh (A kind of Islamic finials in mosques), courtyards (called ” Sahn” in Persian), porches (called ” Ravagh” in Persian), libraries and museums are parts of the Imam Reza shrine complex. This cultural and historical complex is one of the most important religious monuments after the Al-Haram Mosque and the Al-Nabi Mosque. The roof of the shrine has two layers, the first one: which is visible from below, is concave and Mogharnas, its height from the surface of the shrine to the end point of the roof is 18.80 meters, and the second layer: the outer layer is the golden dome.
According to pilgrims and visitors, this holy place is one of the best and most relaxing places in the world. In addition to the spiritual beauty of this place, it is a masterpiece of architecture. The architecture of Imam Reza’s shrine complex is an excellent example of Islamic architecture. Although some parts of this complex are older and dating back to 610 AH, most of the construction was done during the Safavi period, especially during the time of Shah Tahmasb.
The first building was built by Ibn Babu’iyeh from the Samani era. Later, in the Saboktatin attack, the original building was destroyed and Sultan Mahmoud Ghaznavi rebuilt it again. Over time, new monuments, such as the Goharshad Mosque, the Parizad and Dudar schools, were added to the original shrine. According to architectural experts, the Dudar school’s building is one of the most unique and complete examples of 9th century’s architecture. Due to the elegance and beauty of the tiles and the architecture of the Goharshad Mosque, this mosque is one of the masterpieces of Iranian architecture; and because of its adjusent to the Imam Reza shrine, it is considered one of the most important and crowded mosques in Iran.
One of the famous monuments of the Imam Reza shrine is “Sagha- Khaneh” which is built from marble stone with an octagonal and gilded dome. Sagha- Khane is a public water station for pilgrims.
In 24 hours, two times, one before sunrise and the other before sunset, on the eastern portal of the Enghelab or Atigh Sahn, a special place called the Naghare-Khaneh is built for playing Naghare. The Naghare is played by drums and Korna (a special kind of Iranian trumpet). To do so, 11 people take turns performing the task to inform people that the end of prayer time is near.
An interesting point about Imam Reza shrine is the free Tourist guide for non-muslims tourists. There is a tourist center with great tourist guides with fluent English ready to help any non-muslim visitor.
The first building was built by Ibn Babu’iyeh from the Samani era. Later, in the Saboktatin attack, the original building was destroyed and Sultan Mahmoud Ghaznavi rebuilt it again. Over time, new monuments, such as the Goharshad Mosque, the Parizad and Dudar schools, were added to the original shrine. According to architectural experts, the Dudar school’s building is one of the most unique and complete examples of 9th century’s architecture. Due to the elegance and beauty of the tiles and the architecture of the Goharshad Mosque, this mosque is one of the masterpieces of Iranian architecture; and because of its adjusent to the Imam Reza shrine, it is considered one of the most important and crowded mosques in Iran.
One of the famous monuments of the Imam Reza shrine is “Sagha- Khaneh” which is built from marble stone with an octagonal and gilded dome. Sagha- Khane is a public water station for pilgrims.
In 24 hours, two times, one before sunrise and the other before sunset, on the eastern portal of the Enghelab or Atigh Sahn, a special place called the Naghare-Khaneh is built for playing Naghare. The Naghare is played by drums and Korna (a special kind of Iranian trumpet). To do so, 11 people take turns performing the task to inform people that the end of prayer time is near.
An interesting point about Imam Reza shrine is the free Tourist guide for non-muslims tourists. There is a tourist center with great tourist guides with fluent English ready to help any non-muslim visitor.
