Directly
opposite from the bazaar is the great congregational
mosque called Masjid-i Shah, or Shah Mosque, on the left. This is
where the city would gather every Friday for the afternoon prayer.
Though
the mosque's entrance is aligned with the street, the rest of the building
is turned 45 degrees so that the qibla
is oriented toward Mecca. In the image to your right, you can see
the inscription just above the door. It is the mosque's foundation
inscription which records the patron's name, the calligrapher's name, and
the building's date. The elaborate decoration of this structure,
and many others under the Safavids, is created out of mulitcolored glazed
tiles which primarily consisits of decorative geometric and floral patterns.
The
same type of ornamentation is used to decorate the Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah,
located opposite of the Shah's palace. On the left is an image of
the mihrab inside the mosque.
This small mosque is unique among Safavid mosques because it is essentially
a single domed room. The mosque lacks a courtyard and minarets, both
of which Masjid-i Shah has. Similar to its larger counterpart, however,
is its alignment, which is shifted to enable proper orientation.
The interior of the Mosque of Shaykh Lutfallah's dome is brilliantly decorated with a sunburst at its center, giving the illusion of radiating light. This is furthered by the row of windows encircling the drum of the dome which allows in rays of light. The mosque's inscriptions tell us the chronology of construction, those involved, and numerous bands of religious texts run throughout the mosque.
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