Friday Mosque

Of the most important buildings of the town worth visiting, first of all we could mention the Friday Mosque (Masjid-e Jom'eh or Masjid-e JamIe) dating from Seljuk times, 13th century AD (with later restorations), and located inside bazaar; however, it is thought to inan earlier structure. The vaulting of the cupola and the spacious prayer hall of the mosque are of particular architectural interest as regards the construction of vault, thickness of the foundation, and the solid stone body of the building. Seen from the outside, the cupola rests upon a polygonal brick base of sixteen sides which gradually rise up to the top of the cupola growing into circular shape. The mihrab room richly adorned with the typical decoration of the period - exuberant foliage and geometric patterns framed within panels of beautifully executed Kuffic script as well as its fine carved stucco work -is of the square Seljuk "kiosk mosque" type, influenced not by Islam at all, but by the square Sassanian fire-temples seen, for instance, at Naqsh-e Rostam. Stucco plaster is known to have been used as a building material in Iran for at least 2,500 years; it was developed as a decorative medium by the Sassanians and continued to be used as such in mosques and shrines, as well as private houses, from early Islamic days until the present. Lower down, the mihrab is enframed by two engaged columns decorated with plaster moldings. fu the middle, there is an inscription which contains the name of the artist and the date 1277 AD. Besides this inscription there is another one on the inner side of the walls and the cupola, giving an account of the construction of the mosque and its later reparations.