Isfahan ,All Of It’s Wonderful Mysteries

I told you about this Persian saying before that goes like “Isfahan nesfe jahan” which roughly translates to visiting Isfahan is like visiting half of the world all at once, due to it’s importance and beauty. I can neither confirm nor deny that statement, I will leave the judgment to you guys. But I am honestly so obsessed with Isfahan, if I ever come back to live in Iran for good, that’s where I will be residing, come find me. Anyways I guess it’s time for you guys to see what’s even in Isfahan that made me fall in love with it so much.
Now, the first place I’m going to start with is one of the most beautiful squares you will ever witness in your life. It’s not just a square, it’s basically a whole complex, it has many small and big bazaars, mosques and many more wonders. Let’s visit this place together. I have been to this square so many times over the past few years; the last time was about 9 months ago when I went to visit my cousins in Isfahan. I had the best possible time and I can’t believe I didn’t start this series sooner.
The square is nowhere but “Meydane imam” or “Meydane naghshe jahan”, one of the most spectacular sights in all of Iran, you cannot miss out on it. Naghshe jahan was the name that was given to it before the revolution and even though it was renamed after the revolution many still know it by this name. Anyhow let’s first get into how on earth you can even get to Isfahan in the first place.
Description and experiences:
Well this square is about 507 meters in length. It was built during the “Safavid” dynasty, one of the first places in Iran to become part of the UNESCO heritage sites. Well, you might think why did the Safavid dynasty build such an important monumental square in Isfahan and not anywhere else. The reason is that Isfahan used to be the capital city of the Safavid dinasty. The place isn’t only composed of a square; it has two mosques with the names of “Sheikh Lotfollah” mosque and “Imam” mosque. I will get into both of those in detail later. There is also the “Ali ghapoo” palace, which is truly marvelous and wonderful. The last structure I’m going to get into is the “Gheysarie” bazaar, which is my favorite place on earth. All around the square there are about 200 small shops which are called “Hojre” in Persian, dedicated to selling Persian crafts and handmade souvenirs.
I can talk and talk about how beautiful and enchanting this place is but the truth is no words can’t describe the impressive beauty of this place. It really can’t, it is only to be seen and felt by the heart. I know I tend to exaggerate a lot but I’m really not exaggerating this time. I’m truly in love with this place, I don’t know what energy it contains but it contains enough of it for me to keep coming back for more.
Sheikh Lotfollah mosque
Now let’s take a look at “Sheikh Lotfollah” mosque, one of the most historical and well known mosques in all of Iran. This mosque was also built during the Safavid dynasty and is considered one of the most important parts of the whole Naghshe jahan complex. Back then it took about 16 years to build this mosque, which is truly special in terms of its architecture. The Safavid dynasty was a very religious dynasty. Hence, they gave a lot of importance to Islam and specially the shia tradition. Therefore, the mosque was built inside the complex, for the use of the royal family and Sheikh Lotfollah himself.
The tile works in this mosque are outstanding; basically they are the main reason as to why this mosque is considered a work of art. See and judge for yourself, I’m not going to say anything more.
Imam mosque
Now this is the most important mosque in all of Isfahan, it is also known as the symbol of the Naghshe jahan. It was previously known as the Shah mosque, but was later renamed. I honestly prefer this mosque to the other one, I always like to just stare at it from a distance, admire the beauty of it, admire the dedication of those architects putting all of their heart and soul into making something this beautiful. In my opinion this is what it’s like to travel, to look through what is right in front of you, to understand a culture just by looking at their sights. Think about it, you know I’m right.
This mosque was also built by the same dynasty, it is located on the south part of the square and I will leave the judgment regarding it’s beauty to you all. The architecture of this mosque is truly astounding and extremely complicated, I still don’t fully understand it after all this while. I’m not going to cover every aspect, let’s leave some mystery. But I’m going to tell you guys one last thing to blow your mind. You all know what sound echo is, right? Okay so, under one of the domes, as you walk you can hear your own steps echo, you can hear your own voice bounce back. Just imagine that many years ago, how did they come up with this? It is truly amazing. I, as I’m sure many other visitors through at the years have, made lots of weird noises to hear my own echo, you know, child’s play.
The Imam mosque.
Many researchers have researched and found out as to why your sound echoes as you walk by towards the center of the dome, and the reason is rather complicated and muy scientific so I’m not going to get into it. Just understand how important and unique this sort of Persian architecture is.
Ali ghapoo palace
I wouldn’t say this is much of a palace anymore, but it is still a beautiful sight none the less. It has about 6 levels and 48 meter of height. Ali ghapoo has a music room on one of it’s upper floors. When I visited it about 9 months ago it was under renovation, so I didn’t get to go up and see the music room. The decorations inside this room are very famous, due to it’s tile works, the tiles contain seven different colors, just imagine.
The staircases themselves are a work of art, the tiles of blue and the designs make you feel bad that you have to step on them for real. This staircase below was actually made for the king, so only the royal family used this one and the non-royals had to use the other staircases