Jameh Mosque

About the Jameh Mosque

Isfahan is a historic city in central Iran, renowned for its stunning Islamic architecture and the magnificent Jameh Mosque. This UNESCO World Heritage site represents the evolution of mosque architecture over twelve centuries, featuring beautiful tile work, intricate geometric patterns, and impressive iwans that showcase Persian Islamic art.

Standing at the northern end of Isfahan's old bazaar quarter, the Masjid-e Jāmé grew through roughly twelve centuries of rebuilding on a site used for congregational prayer since the eighth century. Its present form dates largely to the Seljuk period, when the vizier Nizam al-Mulk added a great south dome in 1086–87 and his rival Taj al-Mulk built the smaller north dome in 1088; a fire in 1121 prompted further reconstruction, and later rulers contributed such elements as Öljeitü's stucco mihrab of 1310 and a Muzaffarid madrasa of 1366. Because it preserves this layered record of Iranian mosque architecture, including an early four-iwan courtyard plan, UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2012, and Isfahanis treat it as the city's architectural core alongside the later Naqsh-e Jahan square.