Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Atshan, Baghdad, Basra, Kufa,
Samarra, Ukhaidhir, Wasit
Further reading:
T.al-Janabi, 
Studies in Medieval Iraqi Architecture,
Baghdad
1983.
G.Reitlinger, ‘Medieval antiquities west of Mosul’, 
Iraq
5:
1938.
Isfahan
Capital city of Iran famous for its city planning under the
Saffavids in the sixteenth century.
Plan of mosque and tomb of Imam Dur, Samarra, Iraq (after al-Janabì)
Isfahan

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Isfahan is located in western Iran in an area
surrounded by deserts. It is supplied with water by
the Zayandah-Rud which makes settlement in the
area possible.
The main building in the city which survives from
before the sixteenth century is the Great Mosque.
This building was founded in 773 and comprised a
prayer hall with a flat roof supported on wooden
columns. Nothing remains of this structure, although
large parts of the present building, including the
north dome and the dome in front of the mihrab,
date from the eleventh century. The north dome was
built by Terkan Khatun, wife of the Seljuk ruler Malik
Shah. Although now incorporated within the
mosque it was originally a separate building,
possibly another mosque. The most significant
feature of the dome is the quality of the brickwork
which is the best surviving example of Seljuk brick
decoration. The dome in front of the mihrab is of
similar quality although this is also decorated with
stucco work. In the early twelfth century the Great
Mosque was fundamentally rede-signed by the
creation of four axial iwans making this the earliest
example of the four-iwan plan mosque which was
later to be the characteristic form for Iranian
mosques.
In the sixteenth century the city was completely
replanned under the Saffavid ruler Shah Abbas. The
centre of this new plan was the famous maidan which
is a huge rectangular open space which could be used
for recreation and public displays. The principal
buildings of the new capital were built around this
maidan. At the south end is the Shah Mosque and
facing each other near the middle of the maidan are
the Luft 
Allah Mosque and the Ali Qapu or gate to
the Shah’s palace. At the north end there is a
caravanserai and the entrance on to the bazar. To the
west of the maidan there was a park0 area with a long
boulevard leading south across the river to a country
palace known as the Hazar-Jarib.