Friday Mosque

The Friday Mosque (or Masjid-e Jom'e), a world cultural heritage, and roughly 45 minutes from the Imam Square on foot through the Qaisarieh Bazaar to the north of the Square, is the most ancient and in some ways the most interesting bui) ding in the city, and hence in Iran. It was built late in the 11th and early 12th century as a focus for the town. Changes and additions were made in subsequent periods. Therefore, it is a landmark in the evolution of Iranian sacred architecture during a period of one thousand years. It must be noted that the Mosque was partially demolished in Iraqi air raids, and repaired immediately thereafter.
If you have in mind to visit the mosques of Esfahan, as a first step, we recommend you to find your way to this Mosque ( on Hatef Street, and near Qiam Square to the northwest of Imam Square) and study it at length, for it is a prototype of Iranian mosques. It is not as immediately attractive to the external eye as the complex of Maidan-e Imam except for the tile work of fifteenth century in the great courtyard and mehrab of Oljaitu, but the complex harmony of its components makes of it a palimpsest both meaningful in its details and aesthetically pleasing in their superimposition.
The Mosque has the largest courtyard in Iran: 65 m by 76 m. In the center, a fine marble pool with generously festooned edges reflects in its calm waters the image of the four ivans. Every architectural age of Iran (except the most decadent) can be observed and studied here.
The following description from an Iranian source by Dr Lutfollah Honarfar, gives you a short sketch of the most interesting details of the complex, assuming that the present entrance is on the east.
 I. A large prayer hall, with thick round columns and plaster decorations, which belongs to the Dailamite period.
2. Chehel-sotuni (Forty-columned) structures around the Gonbad (dome), which also belong to the Seljuk period.
3. Gonbad-e Khajeh Nezam ol-Molk (the then Vizier ofMalak Shah, according to the Kuffic inscription of the dome) in the southern side of the courtyard, which is one of the Seljuk monuments dating from 1072-92 AD.
4. Chehel-sotuni (Forty-columned) structures around the Gonbad, from a period after the reign of Malak Shah.
5. Chehel-sotuni (Forty-columned) structures to the west of this same side, which belong to the period of Shah Abbas1.

6. Suffeh-ye Saheb to the south, is a 12th century structure with later additions, internal and external decorations (of Safavid period); and its two minarets as well as the roof comprising of large pendentives belong to Aq Qoyunlu period ( 15th century).
7. The marble plinths and some of the raised mosaic tile work of the lower porch as well as the tile work on the arched two-story facades all around the courtyard, date from the period of Ouzun Hassan.
8. Eastern ivan, Jvan-e Shagird, which belongs to Seljuk period. However, its decorations are from the 14th century, and has further been repaired under the Safavid Shah Suleiman.
9. To the east of this ivan can be seen the Suffeh-ye Omar ibn-e Abd ol-Aziz, of the period of Al-e Muzaffar, which was decorated in the 14th century. The most recent additions to the mosque are the inscription and tablets from the period of Ashrafthe Afghan.
10. The western ivan, Suffeh-ye Ostad, is a sixth-century structure with enameled brick decorations Qe1onging to the Safavid period. It was repaired and decorated, and certain inscriptions and Kuffic tablets were added to it during the reign of the Safavid Shah Sultan Hossein.
11. To the north of the western ivan there is a small shabestan that belongs to the period of Oljaitu, the Muslim Mongol Ilkhan in Iran. This contains a marvelous plaster-work prayer niche, one of the most wonderful pieces of stucco work in the country. The central inscription gives the names ofOljaitu and his leminister Mohammad Savi.
12. To the west of the above shabestan and the Oljaitu Mosque there is a large winter gallery from the period of the Timurid Sultan Mohammad ibn-e Baisonghor son of Shahrokh. Here, the architectural and building style as well as the shiny transparent blocks placed into the roof at intervals to act as lamps and lighten the interior, areunique and well worth seeing.
13. The northern ivan (Suffeh-ye Darvish) ad the adjoining hypostyle hall are of 12th century AD, and have later been repaired and decorated under the Safavid Shah Suleiman. Facade tile work is a recent renovation measure taken in 1957-57, according to contemporaneous inscription.
   Further forty columns (chehel sotuni) on the north and both sides of the northern ivan from the 13th century AD, the most interesting of which are those to the east.
14.Gonbad-e Taj ol-Molk to the north of the mosque, which is also called Gonbad-e Kfiaki (earthen cupola) and which, according to its Kuffic inscription, dates back to 1088 AD and is a Seliuk monument.