Tomb of Sheikh Yusof Sarvestani

🕰️When was it built?

The shrine's architecture dates from the Ilkhanid era and the 7th century AH (13th century). The building was built and altered in several stages, and its parts are not all of one date. It was added to Iran's National Heritage List on 12 November 1938 as number 318.

🏛️What was it built for?

This was where Sheikh Yusof ibn Yaqub Sarvestani lived and taught, and it later became a shrine and tomb. The larger building is made of dressed natural stone and single-piece columns, but rubble stone and brick were also used in the smaller domed space.

👀What you will see

• The large dome rests on twelve limestone columns and is about six metres across.
• The east portal is built of cut stone and has a muqarnas vault.
• The carvings include inscriptions in Kufic, thuluth and naskh script and winding arabesque designs.
• On the north side are the remains of a spiral stair, thought to have belonged to a minaret.
• Sheikh Yusof's gravestone is in the middle of the main chahartaq, with his name and the date of his death carved on it.

💡Something interesting

A stone tablet in the southern part records the planting of a cypress tree in 731 AH (1331). This inscription is one of the historic reminders in the shrine's courtyard.

🎒Good to know before you go