Masjed-e Jame of Isfahan Iran

Located in the historical centre of Isfahan, the "Friday mosque" can be seen as a stunning illustration of the evolution of mosque architecture over 12 centuries, starting in 841 A.D. It is the oldest preserved edifice of its type in Iran and a prototype for later mosque designs throughout Central Asia. The complex, covering more than 20,000m2, is also the first Islamic building that adapted the four-courtyard layout of Sassanid palaces to Islamic religious architecture. Its double-shelled ribbed domes represent an architectural innovation that inspired builders throughout the region. The site also features remarkable decorative details representative of stylistic developments over more than a thousand years of Islamic art.

Masjed e Jame of Isfahan
Continent: Asia
Country: Iran
Category: Cultural
Criterion: (II)
Date of Inscription: 2012

The prototype distinctive Islamic architecture

Masjed-e Jame' is the oldest Friday mosque in Iran, located in the historical centre of Isfahan. The monument illustrates a sequence of architectural construction and decorative styles of different periods in Iranian Islamic architecture, covering 12 centuries, most predominantly the Abbasid, Buyid, Seljuq, Ilkhanid, Muzzafarid, Timurid and Safavid eras. Following its Seljuq expansion and the characteristic introduction of the four iwans around the courtyard as well as two extraordinary domes, the mosque became the prototype of a distinctive Islamic architectural style.

Iran Masjed e Jame of Isfahan
Masjed e Jame of Isfahan Iran

Browse Gallery Plus UNESCO Storyline

Quality extensions

The prototype character is well illustrated in the earliest double-shell ribbed Nezam al-Molk dome, the first use of the four iwan typology in Islamic architecture, as well as the textbook character of the Masjed-e Jame' as a compilation of Islamic architectural styles.

The Masjed-e Jame' of Isfahan is an outstanding example of innovation in architectural adaptation and technology applied during the restoration and expansion of an earlier mosque complex during the Seljuq era, which has been further enlarged during later Islamic periods by addition of high quality extensions and decoration.

Slideshow for this Heritage Site


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