The emphasis on the main entrance of the mosque is precisely the new concept introduced by the Persians to Islam, which has also made it a symbol of Iranian religious belief.
When the Muslim armies of the Arab Empire poured into Persia, they were conquered by the extreme beauty of the Ivan building in front of them, and they built mosques in this style, and enlarged and reduced the Ivan structure, arranged and combined with various transformations, and transformed them into "pavilion mosques".
▲ [French] Pascal Kost, Imam Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, 1839-1841
The official portal into Ivan is called the "pishtaq", which is a protruding front wall façade, usually heavily decorated with glass, calligraphy and geometric patterns, the roof is dome-shaped, and the highest point is masonry masonry into a large arrow-shaped arch, which is much larger in size and span than the Ivan pointed arches on both sides of the gate, establishing its own dominant position in the entire building.
▲ Pistak of the Imam Mosque
Later mosques will also symmetrically erect two cylindrical minarets at both ends of the main gate of Pistatak, decorated with glass veneers in turquoise and lapis lazuli colors, spelling out ever-changing patterns, which further strengthens the particularity of the main entrance. The emphasis on the main entrance of the mosque is precisely the new concept introduced by the Persians to Islam, which has also made it a symbol of Iranian religious belief.
▲ Imam Mosque in Isfahan
The Imam Mosque, also known as the Shah Mosque, on Imam Square, was built in 1611 as a masterpiece of Safavid architecture (1501-1736) and a fine example of Persian architecture.
▲ [French] Pascal Coster, Imam Square, 1839-1841
▲ Imam Square today
From the paintings of the 19th-century French architect Coster, it is not difficult to find that the two minarets on the southernmost (and largest) Ivan on the southernmost part of the Imam Mosque are made of glass tiles to spell out Chinese the familiar pattern of "swastika without head", which is a popular Aryan spell in ancient India, Persia, Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor, symbolizing the sun or flame, with auspicious meanings, and has been used by many religions in later generations, such as Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Persianized Islam.
▲ The glazed bricks on the minaret of the Imam Mosque spell out the swastika without a head, and Pistak is decorated with a tangled lotus pattern
The glazed brick pattern of the main gate of Pistacker in the painting is similar to the tangled lotus pattern on the cloisonné of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, showing the Persian origin of filigree enamel. When this craft was first introduced to the Yuan Dynasty, it was called the "Great Food Kiln", and the Great Food here is the general name of the Chinese for the Arab Empire, including Persia.
▲ Late Ming Dynasty Filigree enamel tangled lotus out of the euphorbia large flowers
Collection of the Guanfu Museum
▲ The north-facing Pistak of the Imam Mosque is decorated with a circle of calligraphy with glass
We see bricks inside the Pistark vaults of the Imam Mosque, which are shaped like honeycombs or stalactites, originally a transitional structure used to support square walls and dome corners, and are often used in Byzantine, Spanish, and Maghreb architecture, while the Iranians took it to the extreme and gave it a term name, Muqarnas.
▲ The stalactite cornice of the Imam Mosque
▲ The stalactite cornice of the Isfahan Juli Mosque
This decorative structure, which is easy to cause secret fear, is like a curtain hanging low, so later generations also call it "hanging down", but in fact it may imitate the appearance of the curtain inside the tent.
▲ The murals of the Forty Pillars Palace in Isfahan depict indoor hangings in real life
The form of hanging in Islamic architecture in Spain and North Africa is relatively simple, far less delicate than that of Iranian hanging, which is enough to show the importance that Persian decorative traditions attach to "inner shows".