Al-Nabi Mosque, Qazvin

Al-Nabi Mosque of Qazvīn
Religion
Affiliation	Shia Islam
Province	Qazvīn Province
Location
Location	Qazvīn, Iran
Municipality	Qazvīn County
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Completed	16th century
Interior area	~14,000 m2 (150,000 sq ft)

Mosque in 1849

The al-Nabi Mosque (Template:Lang-fa – Masjed al-Nabi, also known as: Template:Lang-fa – Masjed-e Soltani) is a famous mosque in Qazvīn. The mosque has an area of about 14,000 m², and bears inscriptions indicating that Fath Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty was the founder of the mosque. Other sources however indicate that the mosque has been in existence since the Safavid period. It is now believed that the architect of the structure was Ustad Mirza Shirazi with the date of construction being 1787. This glorious mosque also known as Masjed Nabi, Masjed Soltani or Masjed Shah.

Specifications

Its double layered dome measures 15m in inner-diameter, with the top of the inner layer positioned at 20.83m above ground level, while the external apex is 23.25m high.

There was formerly an elevated minaret flanking the dome, of which the French explorer Madame Jane Dieulafoy had written. The mosque has four iwans in its courtyard.

The portal contains an inscription in nastaliq calligraphy dated 1787 CE. Similar to Qazvin's Masjed e Jame (Congregation Mosque), this mosque has a shabestan that is now used as a library.

See also

• List of Mosques in Iran
• Iranian architecture
• Islamic architecture

Entrance of Masjed al-Nabi, Qazvin, Iran.

Further reading

• Bozorg-nia, Zohreh (2004). Mimaran-i Iran. ISBN 964-7483-39-2.