Gallery
Description
Property Name: Sheikh Lutfallah Mosque
Inventory No: 98-311-5
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2008-02-14
Country (State party): Iran
Province: Esfahan
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 32° 39′ 26″ N
51° 40′ 43″ E
Historic Period: Safavid
Year of Construction: 1617
Style:
Original Use: Mosque
Current Use: Mosque
Architect: Unknown
Significance
This mosque was the earlies construction to be built around the square (Meidan Imam), which formed the nucleus of the urban complex of Shah Abbas. A corridor entrance enabled the mosque to be oriented so that it would conform to the correct direction of prayer while allowing the exterior façade to allign itself with the square. The mosque has a single chamber, covered with a dome that rests on squinches rising directly from the floor. Each of the eight-pointed arches supporting the dome is outlined by a turqoise twisted moulding framing a number of inlays, either inscriptions or flower patterns, enlivened with dark and ligh blue, dark red and bright yellow.
Selection Criteria
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
The tile mosaic of the façade is largely restored, but the interior of this single-chambered mosque is entirely covered with its original mosaic.
the mosque rebuilt and repaired in the 1920s .
References
Michell, George. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning. Thames and Hudson, London, 1978.