Menar Jonban

The minarets that have the ability to be made to oscillate are called, with idiomatic expression, Menar Jonban ("Oscillating minaret"). The most famous menarjonban of Iran are located at Esfahan and near Kharanagh, in the province of Ardakan (Yazd Region).

This building is composed of a mausoleum and two minarets.

The beginning of the construction dates back to the last years of the reign of Oljaitu in the Ilkhanide era, as a burial place of Amu Abdollah Karladani, mystic and ascetic of that era. The sepulcher includes a large marble tombstone with a relief carved in calligraphy soils. The building also includes a ivan (it is a covered palatial environment that opens outwards whose entrance is mostly surmounted by an arch; it is a typical element of Islamic architecture) in brick built for the stopover of pilgrims.

300 years later, scientists of the Safavid era, in the effort to construct anti-seismic buildings, built two minarets above the original sepulcher that had the ability to oscillate; causing one to oscillate, even the other, due to the physical phenomenon of resonance, begins to move, and for this reason Menar Jonban has become famous. The use of expansion joints, pendulums and other systems above and below the building makes the minarets resistant to shocks and vibrations.

The building is 9 meters wide and the height of each minaret reaches the 17 meters. THE'ivan decorated with majolica tiles (kashikari) was built according to the Moghul architectural style.