Imam Mosque

Shah Mosque with the alternative names of Jameh Mosque, Soltani Mosque, and Imam Mosque is one of the mosques in Naghsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan which was built in Safavid era and is considered one of the important Iranian-Islamic architectural buildings. This building is an immortal masterpiece in architecture, tiling, and carpentry of the eleventh Hijri century. Shah Mosque was registered in the list of Iran’s national monuments on 15th Dey 1310 with number 107.

Imam Mosque is located on the south side of Naghsh-e Jahan Square and is one of the prominent architectural monuments in Iran in terms of its architectural properties, rich decorations, and other invaluable parts. As it can be inferred from the sources, its building began to be built in the third stage of Naghsh-e Jahan Plan to the order of Shah Abbas the Great (996-1038 Hijri/1588-1629) and was finished in Safavid period (1038-1052 Hijri/1629-1642).

The interesting point about Imam Mosque that most of the visitors and tourists point to and is considered by architects and engineers as the most professional architectural techniques is the issue of Qibla that is perfectly observed in this mosque. The builders have built the frontispiece in a way that without knowing you will half-turn right by entering the entrance balcony. In fact, the prominent architect of this monument has made the mosque face Qibla with a 45-degree angle.

In general, Imam Mosque of Isfahan with high minarets, towering balconies, perfect bedchambers, exquisite sanctuaries and an integrated and balanced design is one of the unique and incontrovertible masterpieces of Safavid architecture; a mosque that has been one of the wonders of its time and has been in fact one of the bright stars in the art of Safavid era for its beautiful design, greatness, dimensions and its glorious and splendor tilings.