Mashhad - N36°17'16" E59°36'57"
With a population of just over two million, Mashhad has been Iran's second-largest city. It is located in the Kashaf River valley near the northeast corner of the country, not far away from the borders of Turkmenistan and Afganistan. Besides being the capital and center of commerce for Khorasan province, Mashhad is tourist center as well as a site of pilgrimage for millions to the shrine of martyred Shi’ate Imam Reza. Mashhad is also home to a number of important regional military facilities, including the Mashhad Air Force Base.
While Qom is the center of Shi’i jurisprudence and clerical authority in Iran, Mashhad serves as the nation’s spiritual capital. Mashad (properly Mask-had, "the place of martyrdom "), capital of the province of Khorasan in Persia, situated in a pkun watered by the Kashaf-rud (Tortoise river), a tributary of the Hari-rud (river from Herat, which after its junction with the Kashaf is called Tejen), 460 m. E. of Teheran (550 by road) and 200 m. N.W. of Herat, in 36° 17' N., 59° 36' E., at an elevation of 3^00 ft. The old town is of irregular shape, about 6 m. in circumference and surrounded by a mud wall flanked with towers. In the south-western corner of the enclosure stands the citadel (ark), within a wall 25 ft. high and a broad dry ditch which is 40 ft. deep in parts and can be flooded from neighbouring watercourses. The city has five gales, and from one of them, called Bala Khiaban gate (upper Khiaban), the main street (Khiaban), 25 yds. broad, runs in a north-west-south-east direction, forming a fine avenue planted with plane and mulberry trees and with a stream of water running down its middle.
The Shrine of Imam Reza, a sumptuous parade of mosques, minarets and marble courtyards, is vaster than Vatican City. It draws more Muslim pilgrims than even Mecca. Abut Hassan Ali, al Rezs, commonly known as Imam Reza, the eighth imam of the Shiitcs. a son of Mfivi al Kizim, the seventh imam, was th« leader from whom the party of the Alids (Shiites) ha>l had hopes under the caliphate of Mamun. Gold coins (dinars) of his caliphate are extant on which al Reza's name apptarn with the title of heir-apparcnt. The imam died in March 819 in the village Sanabad near Tuv some miles north-west of Mashad. To the Shiias he is a martyr, being believed to have been poisoned by Mamun. The Saint had been killed owing to the jealousy of the Khalif Mamun-al-Rashid, son of the famous Harun-al-Rashid, who presented him with a dish of poisoned grapes.
The shrine of Imam Reza is the Mecca of the Persian world, attracting vast numbers of pilgrims from far-off lands. The Imam Reza shrine complex contains the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of The Twelve imams. It is the largest mosque in the world by area. The most venerated spot in Persia, it was yearly visited by more than 100,000 pilgrims at the beginning of the 20th Century. With more than 12 million visitors per year, Imam Reza Holy Shrine is one of the most important most visited attractions of Iran. It is like a castle of light in the heart of Mashhad, Iran. It is mainly known for the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shiites; but it’s certainly more. With its libraries, museums, research centers, seminaries, and outstanding architecture, this complex is one of the largest cultural centers of Iran and Islam. With nine courtyards (sahn), twenty-eight Halls (ravvaq), libraries, mosques, museums, and so on, Imam Reza Holy Shrine covers an area of more than 600,000 square meters in the center of Mashhad city.
The quadrangle of the shrine seemed to be about 150 paces square. It was paved with large flagstones and in the center was a beautiful kiosk or pavilion, covered with gold and raised over the reservoir of water for ablutions. This pavilion was built by Nadir Shah. All round the northern, western and southern sides of the quadrangle run a row of alcoves filled with mullas in white turbans and dresses. In each of the sides was a gigantic archway, the wall being raised in a square from above the entrance. The height to the top of this square wall was about 100 ft. The alcoves are white, seemingly of stone or plaster; but the archways are covered with blue varnish or blue tiles, with beautiful inscriptions in white and gold.
Over the western archway was a white cage for the muazzin, and outside it was a gigantic minaret as thick as the Duke of York's column in London. The beauty of this minaret cannot be exaggerated. It had an exquisitely carved capital, and above that a light pillar, seemingly 10 ft. high; and this and the shaft below the capital, or about 20 ft., were covered with gold. All this part of the mosque (shrine) was built by Shah Abbas. In the center of the eastern side of the quadrangle two gigantic doors were thrown open to admit the people into the adytum or inner mosque (shrine) where is the marble tomb of Imam Reza, surrounded by a silver railing with knobs of gold. There was a flight of steps ascending to these doors, and beyond were two smaller doors encrusted with jewels— the rubies were particularly fine. The inner mosque would contain 3000 persons.
Over it rose a dome entirely covered with gold, with two minarets at the sides, likewise gilt all over. On the right of the Imam's tomb is that of Abbas Mirza, grandfather of the Shah. Near him several other princes and chiefs of note arc buried. Beyond the golden dome, in striking and beautiful contrast with it, was a smaller dome of bright blue. Here begins the mosque of Gauhar Shad. The quadrangle is larger than that of Shah Abbas; and at the eastern side is an immense blue dome. In front of the dome rose two lofty minarets covered with blue tiles. In the boulevard of the Bala Khiaban is a kitchen supported by the revenues of the shrine, where hundreds of persons are fed daily. Without the pilgrims who come to visit, Meshed would be a poor place.
The complex was so respected by the Shia believers and various governments, whether Shia or Sunni, that has benefited from constant restoration, maintenance and new extensions during different eras. Plenty of tourists visit the Holy shrine each year and know it as the largest and most significant religious places for Iranians and other Muslims all around the world.
The rituals and ceremonies merged together with the pilgrimage rites are generated based on the social and religious needs and requirements rooted in the public believes, the consistency and persistence of which exhibit their significance and values. In fact, Mashahd and the buffer zone of the complex present a unique approach and exercise towards the development of pilgrimage areas during the history in relation to a city and its religious core, in a way that the expression of the pilgrimage concept can be vividly seen in the architectural and urban planning of Mashhad.
