Hostname: page-component-76c49bb84f-c7tcl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-13T10:32:28.393Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Friday Mosque of Sava: Exemplifying Continuity and Integrity in Iranian Mosque Architecture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2025

Alireza Anisi Open the ORCID record for Alireza Anisi [Opens in a new window]
Alireza Anisi*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Tehran, Iran
*
Email: anisi61@yahoo.co.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study discusses the Friday mosque of Sava in detail. The monument is significant among Iranian mosques due to its architectural evolution across various construction periods. These periods, which include the early Islamic centuries and the Saljuq, Ilkhanid, and Safavid periods, each have left their mark on the building’s design and decorative elements. The study provides as much descriptive information as possible of the mosque’s main characteristics, offering a comprehensive view of its architectural evolution. Drawing on previous studies, which were carried out mainly in the 1980s by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO) and author site visits, this paper elucidates building construction and modifications from the earliest Islamic centuries through the Saljuq, Ilkhanid, and Safavid periods.

Keywords

Ilkhanid periodIranian architecturemosquesSafavid periodSava (Savaj)Saljuq period

Information

Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , First View , pp. 1 - 34
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Iranian Studies.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aghajani, I., and Korn, L.. “Stucco of the Seljuq Period in Iran, with a Focus on Dado Zones and Mihrabs.” In Stucco in the Islamic World: Studies of Architectural Ornament from Spain to India, ed. McClary, R. P., 199–222. Edinburgh University Press, 2025.Google Scholar
Al-Balādhuri, A. Futūḥ al-Buldān. Translated by Āzarnūsh, A.. 2nd ed. Surūsh, 1364/1986.Google Scholar
Al-Muhllabī, H. Al-Kitāb al-Azīzī. Damascus: Altakvin, 2006.Google Scholar
Al-Qazvini, Z. Athār al-Bilād va Akhbār al-‘Abād. Beirut, 1988.Google Scholar
Anisi, A., Early Islamic Architecture in Iran (637–1059). PhD diss, University of Edinburgh, 2008.Google Scholar
Anonymous author, , Ḥudūd al-‘Ālam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib. Editor: M. Sutūda. Tehran, 1362/1983.Google Scholar
Bihrūzī, A. N. Jami‘-i Atīq Shīraz ya Qadīmītarīn Masjid-i Fars. Shiraz, 1340/1961.Google Scholar
Blair, S. “Sufi Saints and Shrine Architecture in the Early Fourteenth Century.” Muqarnas 7 (1990): 35–49.10.2307/1523120CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blair, S. The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana. Leiden, 1992.Google Scholar
Blair, S. S. The Ilkhanid Shrine Complex at Natanz, Iran. Harvard University, 1986.Google Scholar
Bloom, J. The Minaret. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637256.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosworth, C. E. “The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 5, ed. Boyle, J. A., 1–202. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1968.Google Scholar
Bosworth, C. E. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Bӧwering, B., and Melvin-Koushki, M.. “Kānaqāh,” Encyclopaedia Iranica. May 24 , 2018. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kanaqah.Google Scholar
Creswell, K.A.C. Early Muslim Architecture, vol. 2. New York: Hacker Art Books, 1979.Google Scholar
Dieulafoy, J. La Perse, la Chaldée et la Susiane. Paris, 1887.Google Scholar
Farahānī, A., and Quchānī, A.. Masjid-i Jāmi‘-i Sava. Tehran, 1380/2000.Google Scholar
Farhangī, A. “Simāy-yi Iwān-i Gharbī-yi Masjid-i Jami‘-i Sava.” Tārīkh Mi‘mārī va Shahrsāzī-yi Iran Arg Bam-Kirman 2 (1374/1996): .Google Scholar
Feyḍ, A. Ganjīna-i Athār-i Qum, Vol.2, First edition, Qum, 1350/1971.Google Scholar
Finster, B. Frühe Iranische Moscheen, Berlin, 1994.Google Scholar
Ghirshman, R. “Une mosquée de Suse du début de l’Hégire.” Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales 12 (1947–1948): 77–90.Google Scholar
Godard, A. “Ardistān Et Zawāre.” In Athār-é Īrān, Tome 1, . Paris, 1936.Google Scholar
Golombek, L. “The Chronology of Turbat-i Shaikh Jām.” Iran 9 (1971): 27–44.10.2307/4300436CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golombek, L., and Wilber, D. N.. The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan. 2 vols. Princeton University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Hillenbrand, R. “Saljūq Dome Chambers in North-West Iran”. Iran 14 (1976), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.2307/4300546CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunarfar, L. Ganjīna Āthār-i Tarīkhī -yi Isfahan. 2nd ed. Tehran, 1971.Google Scholar
Ibn Ḥwaqal, M., Ṣūrat al-Arḍ. Translated by Shu‘ār, J.. Tehran, 1345/1966.Google Scholar
Iqbāl, A. “Abūṭahir Khātūnī.” Yādigār 5 (1326): 7–18.Google Scholar
Isidore of Charax. The Parthian Stations: An Account of the Overland Trade Route between the Levant and India in the First Century B.C. Translated by Schoff, W. H.. Philadelphia, 1914.Google Scholar
Khardāḍbih, A., Ibn Al-Masālik wa’l-Mamālik. Translated by Qarichānlū, Ḥ.. Tehran, 1370/1991–92.Google Scholar
Kīānī, M. Y., and Kleiss, W.. “Caravansary.” Encyclopaedia Iranica. June 21 , 2018. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/caravansary.Google Scholar
Korn, L. “The Earliest Monumental Dome Chambers in Iranian Mosques.” In Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 2: Field Reports—Islamic Archaeology, ed. Marchetti, Nicolò et al., . Wiesbaden, 2023.10.13173/9783447119030.837CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Strange, G. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphates: Mesopotamia, Persia and Central Asia from the Muslim Conquest to the Time of Timur. Adamant Media Corporation, 2005.Google Scholar
Mihryār, M. “Siyr-i Taḥavūlat-i Mi‘mārī-yi Masjid-i Jami‘-i Sava.” Tārīkh Mi‘mārī va Shahrsāzī-yi Iran Arg Bam-Kirman 2 (1374/1996): 760–811.Google Scholar
Miles, G. “Inscription on the Minaret of Saveh, Iran.” In Studies in Islamic Art and Architecture in Honour of Professor K.A.C. Creswell. American University in Cairo Press, 1965.Google Scholar
Miles, G. C. “Numismatics.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 4, ed. Frye, R. N., . Cambridge University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Mitchell, C. P. “Ṭahmasp I,” Encyclopaedia Iranica. October 26 , 2012. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/tahmasp-i.Google Scholar
Mūkhtārī, I., “Masjid-i Avvalīya Sava.” Tārīkh Mi ‘mārī va Shahrsāzī-yi Iran Arg Bam-Kirman 3 (1374/1996): .Google Scholar
Muqaddasī, A. M. Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma‘rifat al-Aqālīm. Translated by Munzavī, A.. Tehran, 1361/1983.Google Scholar
Mustawfī Qazvīnī, Ḥ. Nuzhat al-Qulūb. Edited by Dabīrsīyāqī, M.. Tehran, 1378/1998.Google Scholar
O’Kane, B. “Monumentality in Mamluk and Mongol Art and Architecture.” Art History 19 (1996): 499–522.10.1111/j.1467-8365.1996.tb00683.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Kane, B. “Persian Poetry on Ilkhanid Art and Architecture.” In Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan, ed. Komaroff, L., . Brill, 2006.Google Scholar
Pope, A. U. “Islamic Architecture: The Safavid Period.” In A Survey of Persian Art, vol. 3, ed. Pope, A. U. and Ackerman, P., . Ashiya: Sopa, 1981.Google Scholar
Pope, A. U., and Ackerman, P.. A Survey of Persian Art, vol. 8. Ashiya: Sopa, 1981.Google Scholar
Rāvandī, M. Rāḥat al-Ṣudūr wa Āyāt al-Surūr dar Tārīkh al-Saljūq. Edited by Iqbāl, M.. Leiden, 1921.Google Scholar
Ṣālihī Kākhkī, A., and Aṣlānī, H.. “Mua‘rifī Davāzda Gūna az Arāyihāy-yi Gachī dar Tazi’nāt-i Mi‘mārī Dūra-yi Islāmī-yi Iran.” Mutāliāt Bastānshināsī 3, no. 1 (2011): 91–108.Google Scholar
Schmidt, E.F. Flights Over Ancient Cities of Iran. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1940.Google Scholar
Taqavīnijād, B. “Mua‘rifī va Barrisī-yi Vijgīhā-yi Taziynī Miḥrāb Gachburī-yi Masjid-i Jami‘-i Sava dar Muza-yi Chārfaṣl Arāk.” Nigārīna-i Hunar-i Islamī 16 (1397/2018–19): 4–14.Google Scholar
Vanden Berghe, L. Archaéologie de L’ Irān Ancien. Leiden, 1959.Google Scholar
Wilber, D. N. The Architecture of Islamic Iran: The Ilkhanid Period. Greenwood Press, 1955.Google Scholar