Amir Chakhmaq Complex

🕰️When was it built?

Amir Jalal al-Din Chakhmaq, governor of Yazd under the Timurids, built the complex together with his wife Fatemeh Khatun. The mosque was completed in 841 AH (1437–38). In the Qajar period parts of its prayer hall were enlarged and repaired.

🏛️What was it built for?

The complex was meant to bring life to the city, with religious and public buildings grouped together. The mosque was for prayer and the tekyeh for religious ceremonies, and next to them stood a bazaar, a bathhouse, a caravanserai and water facilities.

👀What you will see

• The Amir Chakhmaq Mosque stands on the south side; the stone carrying the text of its endowment deed, in Naskh script, is set in the entrance that faces the square.
• The windows of the mosque's northern corridor are made of fine tile mosaic lattices, and its mihrab has muqarnas and marble.
• The dome of Seti Fatemeh's tomb, with green tiles and a ribbed surface, is one of the Timurid buildings beside the square.
• Seti Fatemeh's marble grave lies in the middle of the shrine, and a cypress is carved on its stone.
• Inside, the tomb is decorated with paintings and stucco, and the brick face of the dome frames the tilework of its upper part.

💡Something interesting

In June 2020 the buildings next to Seti Fatemeh's tomb were bought and removed so that the dome could be seen from the square again. Fatemeh Khatun built this shrine as her own resting place, and she worked with her husband on the whole Amir Chakhmaq complex.