Mashhad
Mashhad is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être and main sight is the beautiful, massive and ever-growing Haram (shrine complex) commemorating the AD 818 martyrdom of Shiite Islam’s eighth Imam, Imam Reza. The pain of Imam Reza’s death is still felt very personally well over a millennium later and more than 20 million pilgrims converge here each year to pay their respects.
Mashhad is located in a valley between two mountain ranges, the valley of the Kashaf River. As with many cities located in intermountain valleys, access to underground aquifers is through a series of canals (qanāt) drilled downward into the slopes of the mountains.
The city is laid out in a roughly circular shape, with the religious edifices and monuments located in the center and avenues radiating outward to approximately 12 neighborhoods. Mashhad differs from other Iranian cities in that a shrine rather than a bazaar constitutes the center of municipal life. Prior to the renovation of the shrine area in the mid-1970s, that complex was in effect a town within a city, somewhat akin to the Forbidden City in Beijing prior to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Mosques, courtyards, areas for bast (sanctuary-taking), seminaries, caravanserai (inns), and bazaars collectively formed the ḥaram (holy site).
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the city grew into a major modern metropolis, and religion continued to play an enormous role in its development.
Mashhad’s cultural scene is rich. Religious life is centered on the shrine at the burial site of Imam Reza. Shīʿite pilgrims come to pay their respects there from all over Iran and from many countries of the world. Also in Mashhad is the magnificent Gawhar Shad Mosque, the construction of which is attributed to Gawhar Shad—wife of the Timurid ruler, Shāh Rokh(ruled 1405–47). The city maintains parks, a zoo, museums, and libraries. Just outside Mashhad is the mausoleum of Abū Qāsim Ferdowsī (c. 935–c. 1020–26), the incomparable poet and author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”).
Iran’s third oldest university and one of the most prominent academic institutions in Iran is named after Ferdowsi.
People from Mashhad have been influential figures in the Iranian society for as long as the city has existed. A few of such people include the Iranian Supreme leader, Grand Master Shajarian, and Malek-al Sho’ara Bahar.
Mashhad is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être and main sight is the beautiful, massive and ever-growing Haram (shrine complex) commemorating the AD 818 martyrdom of Shiite Islam’s eighth Imam, Imam Reza. The pain of Imam Reza’s death is still felt very personally well over a millennium later and more than 20 million pilgrims converge here each year to pay their respects.
Mashhad is located in a valley between two mountain ranges, the valley of the Kashaf River. As with many cities located in intermountain valleys, access to underground aquifers is through a series of canals (qanāt) drilled downward into the slopes of the mountains.
The city is laid out in a roughly circular shape, with the religious edifices and monuments located in the center and avenues radiating outward to approximately 12 neighborhoods. Mashhad differs from other Iranian cities in that a shrine rather than a bazaar constitutes the center of municipal life. Prior to the renovation of the shrine area in the mid-1970s, that complex was in effect a town within a city, somewhat akin to the Forbidden City in Beijing prior to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Mosques, courtyards, areas for bast (sanctuary-taking), seminaries, caravanserai (inns), and bazaars collectively formed the ḥaram (holy site).
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the city grew into a major modern metropolis, and religion continued to play an enormous role in its development.
Mashhad’s cultural scene is rich. Religious life is centered on the shrine at the burial site of Imam Reza. Shīʿite pilgrims come to pay their respects there from all over Iran and from many countries of the world. Also in Mashhad is the magnificent Gawhar Shad Mosque, the construction of which is attributed to Gawhar Shad—wife of the Timurid ruler, Shāh Rokh(ruled 1405–47). The city maintains parks, a zoo, museums, and libraries. Just outside Mashhad is the mausoleum of Abū Qāsim Ferdowsī (c. 935–c. 1020–26), the incomparable poet and author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”).
Iran’s third oldest university and one of the most prominent academic institutions in Iran is named after Ferdowsi.
People from Mashhad have been influential figures in the Iranian society for as long as the city has existed. A few of such people include the Iranian Supreme leader, Grand Master Shajarian, and Malek-al Sho’ara Bahar.
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- Written by Hamed Bidel
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