Asia

[Visited: April 2001]

Esfahan has a great name where it comes to precious and advanced Islamic ceramic art. The two mosques on the Emam Khomeini square are clear examples of that art. However, a little bit outside the city centre, the Masjed e Jame, or Friday's Mosque, is a showcase of a different nature, of a different beauty. Its main attraction lies in its serenity and simplicity.
The origins of this mosque lie in the 11th century, and parts of it seem to date back even to the 10th century. Personally, I thought this mosque is one of the highlights of Esfahan. It is precisely its simplicity which is so attractive. Walking through a labyrinth of bare, stone columns, with the occasional rays of sunlight filtering through holes in the ceiling, a feeling of eternity, of pureness, descended on me.
Then, when arriving at the central square of the mosque, the tiles on the building were like gems in a crown. Because most of the building is a stone structure, the parts that are covered by tiles draw more attention and really stick out. Walking back through the older parts of the mosque I tried to imagine how many prayers had been said in these enormous halls, and tried to imagine what the stones would tell us, if they only were able to recount the many things that must have happened here.

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Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Masjed e Jame (Iran). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Masjed e Jame.
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