Imam Reza Shrine, Mashhad

The Imam Reza shrine (حرم امام رضا, Haram-e Emâm Rezâ) in Mashhad is the tomb of Ali al-Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shi’a Islam, who died nearby in 818. It is the holiest site in Iran and one of the most visited pilgrimage places in the Muslim world, a complex of courtyards, golden domes, mosques, libraries and museums that has grown around the tomb for more than a thousand years. The city of Mashhad, “the place of martyrdom”, takes its name from it.

The story of the Imam’s life, the disputed account of his death and the growth of the town around his tomb is told on our history page Imam Reza and the Origins of Mashhad. This page is about the shrine as a place: what it looks like, how it grew, and how to visit with respect.

How the shrine grew

The Imam was buried in 818 in a garden at Sanabad, near Tus, beside the tomb of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. A domed tomb existed by the 10th century. The shrine was damaged in local wars and rebuilt more than once: the Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud restored it in the early 11th century, and the Seljuk sultan Sanjar, a Sunni ruler, became one of its major patrons in the 12th. Its respect among Sunnis as well as Shi’is is an old part of its history.

Two women and two shahs did more than anyone to shape what you see today.

• Goharshad, wife of the Timurid ruler Shahrukh, paid for the great congregational mosque beside the tomb, finished in 1418, with its huge blue-tiled ayvân and turquoise dome.
• The Safavids made the shrine a centre of the new Shi’a state. Shah Abbas I walked from Isfahan to Mashhad on pilgrimage in 1601, enlarged the complex and had the dome regilded.
• Nader Shah in the 18th century and Naser al-Din Shah in the 19th each added a gilded ayvân, still named the Naderi and Naseri golden porches.

The shrine’s modern history has had violent moments, including the Russian bombardment of the complex in 1912 and the suppression of a protest in the Goharshad Mosque in 1935 under Reza Shah. Since 1979 the complex has been enlarged on a huge scale, with new courtyards, underground prayer halls and service buildings, so that it now covers well over a square kilometre.

What you will see

The courtyards

The shrine is organised around large open courtyards (sahn). The oldest, the Enqelab (Atiq, “old”) courtyard, is Safavid and holds the gilded Naderi porch, a domed water fountain (saqqâ-khâneh) and the Naqqareh-khaneh, a drum house where music has traditionally been played at sunrise and sunset. The Azadi courtyard faces the shrine through the Naseri golden porch. The Jomhuri-ye Eslami courtyard, the Goharshad courtyard in front of the Timurid mosque, and the vast newer Quds, Ghadir and Kowsar courtyards hold the crowds on holy days.

The golden dome

Above the tomb chamber rises the gilded dome, the image of Mashhad seen on stamps, banknotes and souvenirs. Beside it stand gilded minarets. At night the dome is lit and the courtyards fill with families, pilgrims and people simply sitting on carpets.

Inside the sanctuary

The tomb itself lies under the dome inside a cage-like enclosure (zarih), surrounded by halls covered in mirror work, gilding and tile. Pilgrims touch and kiss the zarih and recite prayers of visitation (ziyârat-nâmeh). Men and women usually enter by separate doors.

Museums and library

The Astan Quds Razavi museums hold Qur’an manuscripts, carpets, coins, earlier versions of the zarih and many gifts made to the shrine over the centuries. The Central Library has one of the largest collections of Persian and Arabic manuscripts in Iran.

Visiting respectfully

This is an active holy place first, and a monument second. Pilgrims, many of whom have travelled a long way, come here to pray and grieve. Keep your voice down, do not block people at the doors, and take your cue from those around you.

• Non-Muslim visitors: non-Muslims are usually allowed into the courtyards and museums, often accompanied by a guide from the shrine’s office for international visitors, but not into the inner sanctuary around the tomb. Rules can change, so ask at the gate.
• Dress: modest dress is required. Women are normally asked to wear a chador, which can usually be borrowed at the entrance; men should wear long trousers and avoid short sleeves.
• Security: bags are checked, and large bags, and sometimes cameras, must be left at a depository. Phone photography in the courtyards is common, but do not photograph people praying.
• Busy times: the shrine is busiest on Thursday evenings and Fridays, on the anniversaries of the Imam’s birth and death, and during Nowruz. Hours and access rules for events change; check current information.
• Safety: follow your own government’s travel advice for Iran.

For the city around the shrine, see our guide to Mashhad and the older post on Mashhad. Many visitors combine the shrine with the Tomb of Ferdowsi at Tus and the Tomb of Omar Khayyam in Neyshabur.