Jameh Mosque of Yazd

The Jameh Mosque of Yazd (مسجد جامع یزد), the city’s Friday mosque, was built mainly between 1324 and the 1370s under the last Ilkhanid ruler and the Muzaffarid dynasty. Its entrance portal, flanked by two slender minarets, is one of the tallest in Iran, and its prayer hall holds some of the finest 14th-century tile mosaic in the country. It stands in Fahadan, the oldest quarter of Yazd, inside the UNESCO-listed historic city.

Three mosques on one site

Yazd had a Friday mosque long before the present building. Local tradition holds that the site was first used by a Zoroastrian fire temple, which would fit the pattern of many Iranian towns, but there is no archaeological proof. A mosque was built here in the 12th century under the Kakuyid governors of Yazd. It seems to have been ruined, perhaps during the Mongol period, and little of it can be identified today.

The present mosque was begun in 1324, in the reign of the Ilkhanid sultan Abu Sa’id, at the expense of a local notable, Sayyed Rokn al-Din Mohammad. The great portal, the main iwan and the domed sanctuary date from this campaign. Abu Sa’id’s death in 1335 and the break-up of the Ilkhanate are told on our page Abu Sa’id and the collapse of the Ilkhanate.

The Muzaffarids, a local dynasty from the Yazd region who went on to rule Shiraz and Isfahan, continued the work. In the 1360s and 1370s they added the prayer halls beside the dome chamber, galleries and the tile-mosaic mihrab. Their story, and their rivalry with the Injuids of Shiraz, is on our page about the Injuids and Muzaffarids. Later dynasties repaired and retiled the building. The two tall minarets are usually attributed to the Safavid period, and the mosque was restored again in the 20th century.

What to look at

The portal

Seen from the narrow street in front, the entrance pishtâq (پیشطاق) is enormous: a tall arched frame faced with tile, rising above the low mud-brick houses of Fahadan, with a minaret on each side. The pair of minarets is often said to be the tallest in Iran, with figures of around 50 metres given. Inside the arch, bands of tiled inscription and a half-dome of muqarnas lead the eye upward. This view was printed on the Iranian 200-rial banknote for many years.

The courtyard and iwan

Beyond the portal a long, narrow courtyard leads to the main iwan, a deep vaulted hall that frames the entrance to the dome chamber. The shape is unusual: the courtyard is longer than it is wide, because the mosque had to fit into the dense old town.

The dome chamber and mihrab

Under the dome, the walls are covered with tile mosaic in dark blue, turquoise, white and gold-brown, cut piece by piece and set in geometric and floral patterns. The mihrab, the niche that shows the direction of Mecca, is dated 1365 and is one of the masterpieces of Muzaffarid tilework. The light in the chamber is soft and indirect, reflected from white plaster in the side halls.

The side halls

The prayer halls on either side of the dome chamber have plain whitewashed vaults that contrast with the colour of the sanctuary. They show the brick vaulting techniques used across Iran in the 14th century.

Comparing it with Isfahan

The Jameh Mosque of Isfahan grew over a thousand years and is a lesson in how a mosque changes. The Yazd mosque is the opposite: a single 14th-century design, mostly completed within two generations, with one dominant entrance. Seeing both gives a good sense of the range of Iranian mosque architecture.

Visiting

• The mosque is in the Fahadan quarter, a short walk from Amir Chakhmaq Square through the old lanes. Our pages on Yazd and the Amir Chakhmaq Complex cover the area.
• It is a working mosque. Dress modestly; women should cover their hair, and a chador may be requested in the prayer halls. Avoid walking in front of people praying, especially at Friday noon prayers.
• The portal is best photographed in the late afternoon, and again after dark when it is lit.
• Rules on entry for non-Muslims, opening times and any fee can change. Check locally.