Jameh Mosque of Chaleshtar

🕰️When was it built?

The mosque is attributed to an order of Mohammad Reza Khan Sotudeh Riahi. The inscriptions on the north iwan and the west portal carry the date 1267 AH (1851), probably when the building was finished. The mosque was added to the National Heritage List in 1996 as number 1779.

🏛️What was it built for?

The mosque has winter and spring prayer halls and columned porticoes. Beside the prayer space, a pool room and an ablution area also fit into the complex; together these spaces show the building was made for the everyday use of the neighbourhood.

👀What you will see

• Inscribed tiles with Quranic verses and designs of flowers and vases, arabesques and khatai.
• The wooden minaret with geometric girih, panelling and muqarnas capitals, one of the building's finest details.
• The columned porticoes on the east and west, which form the side spaces of the mosque.
• The inscription over the west portal, which names Mirza Esmail Kashipaz Esfahani, the maker of the decoration.

💡Something interesting

The mosque's inscriptions keep not only dates but also the names of craftsmen. On the wooden minbar, Abdolrahim is named as the calligrapher, and the wooden west door was made by Master Naser Chaleshtari; local skills can be traced in these very details.

🎒Good to know before you go

• Combine the visit with Chaleshtar Castle in the same historic area, and ask separately whether you can enter each part.