Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You might catch a glimpse of the 50m blue dome and cavernous golden portal of the
classic Timurid
Azim-e Gohar Shad mosque
(built from 1405 to 1418). However, non-
Muslims aren't allowed within to appreciate its splendid interior hosting the minbar (pul-
pit) where, according to Shiite tradition, the Mahdi (12th 'hidden' Imam) will sit on the
Day of Judgement.
Main Museum
(Muze-ye Merkezi; admission US$1; 8am-5.30pm Sat-Thu, to noon Fri)
Bequests and
donations from the faithful fill the Haram's fascinatingly eclectic museums. The Main
Museum kicks off with chunks of now-superseded shrine decor interspersed with contem-
porary sporting medals presented by pious athletes, while the basement
stamp collection
includes a 1983 commemorative featuring the 'Takeover of the US Spy Den'. The 1st-
floor
Visual Arts Gallery
offers you the opportunity to shower money (or hats) down
onto the top of the Holy Shrine's fourth
zarih
tomb encasement (replaced in 2001). Amid
seashells and naturalist landscape-paintings of Surrey, notice Mahmood Farshchian's
modern classic
Afternoon of Ashura
. It's a grief-stricken depiction of Imam Hossein's
horse returning empty to camp after the Imam's martyrdom.
MUSEUM
Carpet Museum
(admission US$2; 8am-12.30pm Sat-Wed, to 11.30am Thu)
You'll find the horse im-
age repeated here, where rugs range from beautiful classics through to garish coral gar-
dens and a Tabriz-made carpet-portrait of WWI bogey-man Kaiser Wilhelm II. Tying the
staggering 30 million knots for
Seven Beloved Cities
took 14 years. Upstairs, beside the
shoe-deposit counter, is a two-room
Calligraphy Gallery
displaying priceless Korans,
many dating back over a millennium.
MUSEUM
MOSQUE
72-Martyrs (Shah) Mosque
Just outside the complex's official limits sits this splendid 15th-century mosque, famous
for its beautiful late Timurid tilework and beautiful tracery lamps; it's a lovely spot to
soak up the atmosphere of ancient Khorasan.
Mehdi Gholibek Hamam
(admission US$2; 8am-6pm Mon- Thu, to 1pm Fri)
In the shadow of the mosque
squats one of Iran's most interesting and spacious bathhouse museums. The main delight
is the wonderful central dome repainted for centuries in multiple levels - most recently in
1922 with naive murals that feature anthropomorphic figures gallivanting between giant
MUSEUM
