Jameh Mosque of Semnan
The Jāmeh Mosque of Semnan is a Shi'ite Friday mosque, located in the city of Semnan, in the province of Semnan, Iran. It is believed that this mosque was built in the 5th century AH on the ruins of a fire temple. Subsequently, there have been many changes and developments to the mosque structure, with traces of the Seljuq and Timurid eras most notable.
Both the Seljuk style mosque and its minaret were added to the Iran National Heritage List on 6 January 1932, administered by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran.
History
Sana' al-Dawla wrote in the book Mirror of the Lands: during the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib, he ordered that 1001 mosques be built from Kufa to Bukhara. During the rule of Abdullah ibn Umar, the wealthy people of Semnan built the present mosque of this city, but the building did not have much splendor at that time.The mosque is one of the earliest mosques built in Iran. An inscription on its minaret states that it was constructed during the governorship of Abu Harb Bakhtiar ibn Muhammad, dating it to between and, making the minaret the oldest extant part of the mosque complex. The mosque was later expanded during the Ilkhanate and Timurid periods.
Architecture
The mosque is situated inside the city bazaar, and its main entrance is on the north side from Imam Street. Another entrance is found on the east side from the bazaar. Rectangular in plan, the mosque is oriented southwest-northeast and centers on a sahn. Each side of the sahn has a different plan. On the west side sits a large qibla iwan leading onto a domed chamber. The three other sides are occupied by hypostyle prayer halls of varying layouts. The minaret is located in the northeast corner.The qibla iwan is made of brick and measures high by wide. Its inscription indicates that it was built in by a Timurid minister. The dome chamber behind the iwan is high. The mihrab is located on the western wall of this hall.
The prayer hall on the southeastern side of the sahn is three aisles wide and nine bays deep, with a mihrab on its western wall. Sixteen columns support it. An inscription dates this space to the reign of Arghun Khan. The prayer hall on the northeastern side of the sahn is square in plan and rests on sixteen columns in four rows of four. A the back of the hall, one of the bays is closed off into an octagonal vestibule from which the entry from the Hazrat bazaar opens. This prayer hall also has an entrance to the minaret.
The brick minaret is a tapering cylindrical shaft that is high and sits on tall cylindrical base. It was renovated in the Safavid era, when a ma'azanah resting on a muqarnas cornice was built. Like other minarets of the Seljuk era, it was originally detached from the mosque. As the minaret tapers near the top with a diameter of, there is an octagonal balcony and a Safavid-style handrail. The minaret is further decorated with brick geometric designs and rough Kufic scripts.
The mosque is constructed of brick. Within the prayer halls, the columns are also brick, and the vaults are stuccoed. The great iwan is ornamented with elaborate brickwork, two polychrome inscriptions, and a tile band. Tilework is also found in the east entrance.