Winter Room,
Friday Mosque, Isfahan
The Friday Mosque of Isfahan,
Iran is one of the greatest monuments in Persian Islamic
architecture. Every large town has a particularly large and
beautiful mosque for use on Friday by the largest
congregations. One enters the great courtyard of Isfahan's
Friday Mosque (Masjed-e-Jomeh) through a narrow vaulted
passageway. Upon entering the courtyard, the the most
notable element of the building is the immense blue
mosaic-tiled iwan (a curved bay in the courtyard) with two
minarets and the dome behind it that covers the main
sanctuary. But I remember most the Winter Room or winter
prayer hall across the courtyard behind the western iwan .
What first drew me to it was undoubtably probably the
contrast between the sunny, hot summer morning walking
across the great courtyard and the cool dark interior. As
my eyes adjusted to the light I realized it was perhaps the
most beautiful room that I had ever entered. This Winter
Room was divided by stout columns in to separate smaller
chambers. The corners of each chamber are created by the
four columns that grow wider as they rise to the ceiling in
the shape of Islamic arches. Not only do the columns arch
toward each other at the corners, but also to create a
curving ceiling where, at the point the arches meet is a
small alabaster covered window of the most remarkable
luminosity. Thus on this sunny day each chamber was filled
with a warm yellow light. I was transfixed by the simple
beauty of this space created by stone and
light.
Here
is a website with a photo of the winter room chambers. I understand that
the Winter Room has now been significantly modernized
and has electric chandeliers. You, too, can visit the
Friday Mosque of Isfahan by simply visiting this
website.
