Persian Ornamentation in Contrast to Ottoman Engineering
Although Persian masjids predate the Sinan mosques of the Ottoman Empire by nearly half a millennia, the two styles both incorporate the similar elements of the mosque: a courtyard leading to the prayer hall, a qibla wall against which the mihrab and minbar lay, the incorporation of a dome or several domes, and sacred Islamic geometry that dictates decoration of the mosque. Aside from these basic elements, the mosques of Persia differ greatly in overall shape and ornamentation from those of the Ottoman period, however neither style could be called less sophisticated than the other. Both techniques can be appreciated equally in terms of the architectural genius and amount of meticulous care that went into …show more content…
It is speculated to have been initially constructed around the early 9th century and is a product of various additions and renovations over the course of a millennia, most of which were done in the 12th century. The complex consists of “476 separate vaults” and spans over 150 meters from north to south. From above, the masjid resembles an abstract beehive due to its hundreds of brick and stucco domed chambers. The Masjid-I Jami is a construction of a courtyard and four iwans set into a façade of two tiers of arches [Figs. 1 and 3] with a small fountain in the center of the courtyard. The southern Sanctuary Iwan—or qibla iwan—and West Iwan [Fig. 1] are both nearly square in composition, while the other two are more exaggerated on the vertical axis. The entire complex is skewed slightly for the mihrab in the qibla iwan to face Mecca, as well as due to its location in relation to the buildings around it. A.T. Mann states, “Because Mecca is where heaven and earth meet, all prayers and sacred places on earth face in its direction and that “the orientation of buildings is as important as their space and