MAshhad, Land of Miraculous

City Significance and History

Mashhad, Iran's holiest city, is located 850 kilometers North East of Tehran. Back in the 9th century, Imam Reza was poinsoned and martyred in the city. He was the eighth Imam (head spiritual leader) of Shi'ae Islam (Some consider him Imam of all Muslims). His holy position made his tomb a sacred place for pilgrims to worship. Millions of people pay pilgrimage to the holy shrine, undoubtedly the largest and most magnificent of its kind, every year. There are plenty of priceless objects and unique manuscripts in the shrine's library. Mashad is a tourist city with many hotels of various categories as well as a great number of guest houses for the pilgrims who come to this city from the other parts of the country everyday by tens of flights, trains and buses.

Before he died, the city was known as Sanabad, a small village in the north of Persia. After his death, pilgrims came and ended up staying in Mashhad. The village grew into a small city because of his shrine. Sunni Muslim forces sacked the city, followed by the Mongols in the 13th century. The shrine was badly damaged and, after time, rebuilt.

In the 16th century, three Safavid dynasty rulers established Shia'e Islam for the whole territory. The shrine was restored, enlarged, and a Ghoharshad mosque was built. Thes e rulers made pilgrimages to the site and since then it has become the most holy Shi'ite pilgrimage in Iran.

The city's climatic condition is varied with very cold winters, pleasant springs, usually mild summers and beautiful autumns. The magnificent holy shrine of Imam Reza and the historical and artistic complex attached to it including the courtyards, porticos and porches, the Goharshad Mosque (of Timurid period) as well as its rich museum and libray are the most significant sights to be seen by any visitor and pilgrim. There is a magnificent golden dome over the shrine's building; surrounded by several proches. The Grand Gohaharshad Mosque is located to the south of the shrine, the museum and the tomb of Sheikh Bahaee to the southeast and Parizad and Balasar Schools to the west.

Other than a number of large beautiful parks, the other sights tomb of Nader Shah, Kooh Sangi pool. There are also some sights outside the city. Tomb of Khajeh Morad, the tomb of Khajeh Rabi located 6 kilometers north of the city where there are some inscriptions by the renowned Safavid calligrapher Reza Abbasi, and the tomb of Khajeh Abasalt in a distance of 20 kilometers from Mashad along the road to Neishabur. (the three personalities were the disciples of Imam Reza). Among the other sights are the tomb of the great poet Ferdowsi in Tus, 24 kilometers away from Mashad; and the Summer resorts at Torghabeh, Torogh, Akhlomod, Zoshk and Shandiz.

 

historical Monuments

The important natural, cultural and religious sites and monuments of this township are:
Bazangan lake, Recreational areas of Kooh-Sangi Akhloomad, Torghaben,
Band-e-Golestan (Golestan dam) Shandeese, Jaghargh, Zeshk, Naghandar, Kardeh Dam and Miami, Vakilabad and Mellat parks,
Gilas and Garab fountains, Zari, Hendelabad, Mozdooran, Moghan and Kardeh
Khorshid palace in Kooh-Sangi,
Milakhanjan and Robat Sharaf castle,
Ruins of old city of Toos, Kalat-e-Naderi historical aggregate, Tombs of Ferdowsi, Sheikh Tabarsi, Khajeh Abasalt,
Nader Shah, Imam Mohammed Ghazali, Khajeh Morad Ravi (famous Iranian Gnostics) and mausoleum of Sultan Mahmood
Ghaznavi, Meshed mud-brick dome,
Mashehad Mossalla (place for public prayer),
Navab, Soleyman Khan, Ghyasieh (Khargerd) and Mirza Gafar Schools, Goharshad and Imam (former Shah) mosques, Imam Reza Shrine aggregate, Hor-e-Ameli mausoleum,
Imamzadeh Mohammed, Imamzadeh Yahya and Khajeh Rabi mausoleum,
Haroonieh and Sabz (green) dome.

The Mausoleum of Khaje Rabi

There are different stories about who Khaje Rabi was. Some sources introduce him as one of Prophet Mohammad's companions. Other sources introduce him as Imam Reza's slave or secretary or companion. In any case, he dies and is buried in northwest of Mashhad. His mausoleum is one of the tourist attractions in Mashhad. At the end of a long alley of plane-trees, an elegant octogonal building with four porches overlooked by a large cupola decorated with a string course of calligraphy.

Neishabur

Neishabur is located in a distance of 150 kilometers from Mashad by the Khorassan Railway.
Neishabur was first the center of Khorassan, but it was totally ruined and its people massacred during the invasion of Mongols.
This city is the birth and burial place of a number of leading Iranian poets and mystics like  Hakim Omar Khayam the great mathematician and astronomer 1125 A.C , shrine of Imam Zadeh Mahrugh, Faridoddin Attar the great mystic poet, (12th, 13th century A.D) Kamal-ul-molk the great painter.
The Jami Mosque and the tomb of renowned Iranian painter Kamalolmolk in the vicinity of the tombs of Khayam and Attar.
 

Torbat-e-Jam

 Sheikh Ahmad-ibn-Jami was a Sufi theologian and poet who spent most of his life in the small town of Torbat-e-Jam, in eastern Khorassan named after the saint. After his death in 1142, the shrine expanded around the humble unroofed tomb of the Sheikh with the addition of a tall portal and mosque built in 1440.

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