The Shah Mosque (Persian: مسجد شاه) is a mosque located in Isfahan, Iran. It is located on the south side of Naghsh-e Jahan Square. It was built during the Safavid dynasty under the order of Shah Abbas I of Persia.

It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian architecture in the Islamic era. The Royal Mosque is registered, along with the Naghsh-e Jahan Square, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611.

The mosque is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 20,000 rials banknote. It was found damaged in 2022.

In 1598, when Shah Abbas decided to move the capital of his Persian empire from the northwestern city of Qazvin to the central city of Isfahan, he initiated what would become one of the greatest programmes in Persian history; the complete remaking of this ancient city. By choosing the central city of Isfahan, fertilized by the Zāyandeh River ("The life-giving river"), lying as an oasis of intense cultivation in the midst of a vast area of arid landscape, he both distanced his capital from any future assaults by Iran's neighboring arch rival, the Ottomans, and at the same time gained more control over the Persian Gulf, which had recently become an important trading route for the Dutch and British East India Companies.[1]

The chief architect of this task of urban planning was Shaykh Bahai (Baha' ad-Din al-`Amili), who focused the programme on two key features of Shah Abbas's master plan: the Chahar Bagh avenue, flanked at either side by all the prominent institutions of the city, such as the residences of all foreign dignitaries, and the Naqsh-e Jahan Square ("Exemplar of the World").[2] Prior to the Shah's ascent to power, Persia had a decentralized power structure, in which different institutions battled for power, including both the military (the Qizilbash) and governors of the different provinces making up the empire. Shah Abbas wanted to undermine this political structure, and the recreation of Isfahan, as a Grand capital of Persia, was an important step in centralizing the power.[3]

 Painting by the French architect, Pascal Coste, visiting Persia in 1841. The painting shows the main courtyard, with two of the iwans. The iwan to the right is topped by the goldast, which in many Persian mosques had replaced the function of the minarets.

The crown jewel in this project was the Masjed i Shah, which would replace the much older Jameh Mosque in conducting the Friday prayers. To achieve this, the Shah Mosque was constructed not only with vision of grandeur, having the largest dome in the city, but Shaykh Bahai also planned the construction of two religious schools and a winter mosque clamped at either side of it.[4]

The architect of the mosque is Ali Akbar Isfahani. His name appears in an inscription in the mosque above the doorway of the entrance iwan complex. The inscription also mentions that the supervisor of the construction as Muhibb 'Ali Beg Lala who was also a major donor to the mosque. Another architect Badi al-zaman-i Tuni may have been involved in its early design.[5]

Because of the Shah's desire to have the building completed during his lifetime, shortcuts were taken in the construction; for example, the Shah ignored warnings by one of the architects, Abu'l Qāsim, regarding the danger of subsidence in the foundations of the mosque, and he pressed ahead with the construction.[6] The architect proved to be right, as in 1662 the building had to undergo major repairs.[7]

Also, many historians have wondered about the peculiar orientation of The Royal square (The Maidān). Unlike most buildings of importance, this square did not lie in alignment with Mecca, so that when entering the entrance-portal of the mosque, one makes, almost without realising it, the half-right turn, which enables the main court within to face Mecca. Donald Wilber gives the most plausible explanation to this; the vision of Shaykh Bahai was for the mosque to be visible wherever a person was situated in the maydān. Had the axis of the maydān coincided with the axis of Mecca, the dome of the mosque would have been concealed from view by the towering entrance portal leading to it. By creating an angle between them, the two parts of the building, the entrance portal and the dome, are in perfect view for everyone within the square to admire.[8]

^ Savory, Roger; Iran under the Safavids, p. 155. ^ Sir Roger Stevens; The Land of the Great Sophy, p. 172. ^ Savory; chpt: The Safavid empire at the height of its power under Shāh Abbas the Great (1588–1629) ^ Blake, Stephen P.; Half the World, The Social Architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590–1722, p. 143–144. ^ Cite error: The named reference architect was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Savory, p. 162 ^ Blake; p. 144 ^ Wilber, Donald; Aspects of the Safavid Ensemble at Isfahan, in Iranian Studies VII: Studies on Isfahan Part II, p 407–408.
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Julia Maudlin from Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA - CC BY 2.0
Yare zaman2000 - CC BY-SA 4.0
pegah jafari1995 - CC BY-SA 4.0
Zahra gharaati - CC BY-SA 4.0
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