Nasir ol Molk Mosque
Nasir ol Molk Mosque is one of the ancient mosques of Shirāz (Fārs region). The construction of this historical-religious building as a notable example of Iranian architecture of the qajara era, wanted by Mirza Hassan Ali Khān known as Nasir ol Molk, among the nobles and aristocrats of Shirāz, lasted from the year 1876 up to 1888 .
This mosque is one of the most deserving of a visit among Iran's mosques and is the most varied, its unique tile work and colored glass give it great charm. The use of pink tiles in this mosque meant that it was given the name "pink mosque".
The Nasir ol Molk mosque has two entrance doors; the main entrance is decorated with encaustic tiles and the image of the red rose and iris. The wooden door has a stone frame with decorations iSlim (arabesques) and is a single large block; above it a small inscription next to some verses of a poem shows the date of its construction.
After the main entrance, there is a brick vestibule that has a picture with a famous poem by Sa'di and the name of his architect, a corridor and then a quadrangular courtyard in the middle of which there is a basin in front of theIwan.
All around this mosque, which is adorned with encaustic tiles, two can be seen Iwan and also gods golddasteh (open space placed at the top of the minaret where the muezzins call the faithful to prayer). This mosque has two Shabestan, or prayer hall (covered environment in the mosques); the west one (Shabestan summer) was decorated with tiles and bricks with the image of red rose but during the repairs that took place about 70 years ago these were covered with turquoise tiles.
The arch of this prayer room with beautiful tile work rests on the stone columns with twisted barrels in two rows of six and twelve in honor of the "twelfth Imam". This Shabestan in addition to his mihrab wonderful, has seven entrances that connect it to the courtyard with seven wooden doors and polychrome glass.
The polished stone and its decorations are inspired by the Vakil mosque in Shirāz. The floor is adorned with turquoise tiles and the ceiling with floral designs and verses from the Koran.
Lo Shabestan East (Shabestan winter) has seven smooth columns and without drawings and arranged in a row in the middle. In front there is a Iwan which is divided from the courtyard by eight blind arches. In this Shabestan there is a door that accesses a well. In this place there is also a small pool, a vestibule and also the donation museum.
The Nasir ol Molk mosque has two Iwan, northern and southern that do not resemble each other; the one on the north side has three half-arches on three sides and on the fourth side accesses the courtyard. This Iwan it also has 4 pavilions and its central ceiling is adorned with muqarnas and cupolas.
THEIwan place in the south also has two goldasteh (kiosks) and in its courtyard there is a rectangular stone basin with a fountain. In the north wing of the mosque there is a long arc known as a "pearl arch" whose body and whose outer and inner surface are covered with encaustic tiles.
On the two sides of the pearl arch there are two other small blind arches. In the south wing there is also an arch whose body and whose external and internal surface is entirely covered with tiles.
This building was initially a complex consisting of a mosque, a house, a hammam and a warehouse but a large part of it that includedandaruni, the entrance of the house, the hammam, the water warehouse and the space between the house and the mosque, during the construction of the city has disappeared and no trace of it can be seen.
