Jamé Mosque

 

Jamé Mosque

The Jamé Mosque of Esfahan is one of Iran's premier architectural monuments. Having originally been established in 772 during the reign of the Al-Mansur Caliphate of the Abbasid era, the mosque has grown by accretion over the centuries into the sprawling ensemble visible today. Despite the mosque's almost organic growth, it exhibits an interior harmony derived from the simple four-iwan design facing a large central
courtyard.
The original mosque of 772 was roughly rectangular, with a prayer hall hypostyle in design. The designers inaccurately positioned the qibla wall (the wall facing Mecca) about 15 degrees from the true direction, requiring reconstruction in 840-841 during the Caliphate of Al-Mu'tasim to correct the mistake. Very few remnants of the mosque of 772 are visible today. The sole traces are some small portions of wall with decorative work typical of the Abbasid era, which includes a motif of four interlaced leaves used as border decoration.
A key addition to the mosque was the erection of a large dome positioned in front (to the north) of the mihrab of the qibla wall. It was commissioned by Nizam al-Mulk, a Vizier under Seljuq ruler Malik Shah (r. 1072-92). For reasons that are not entirely clear, a raval of Nizam, Taj al-Mulk, commissioned a second dome on the north side of the Mosque that was completed just two years later. Although Nizam's dome is larger and enjoys the prestige of housing the mosque's main mihrab along the qibla wall, most scholars agree that the north dome is the superior design. According to Robert Byron, the north dome "...is really a tomb-tower incorporated into the mosque..." in form though not in function.
Several hundred years later, during the Il-Khanid period, a superbly crafted stucco mihrab was commissioned by Oljeitu in 1310. In contrast to the rest of the mosque, with its emphasis on lofty forms and imposing scales, the mihrab shows minute attention to detail in a fairly limited space--a chamber located to the side of the west iwan. The scholars Curatola and Scarcia suggest that Oljeitu's aim may have been to simply add his mark to the mosque, as the decorative calligraphy of the mihrab contains no quranic inscriptions--only self-congratulatory phrases praising the Sultan's reign.
Later additions to the moque include a madrasah built on the east side of the mosque by Sultan Mahmud (1358-75), along with the two minarets on the south iwan which were added during the Safavid era. Additional modifications and subtle embelishments have continued through to the present day.