Shah Mosque

The Shah Mosque, also known since the Islamic Revolution as the Imam Mosque, stands on the south side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, Iran, and is considered one of the masterpieces of Safavid architecture. Built between 1611 and 1629 under Shah Abbas I, the mosque is oriented at an angle to the square itself so that its prayer hall faces Mecca, a rotation concealed behind a monumental entrance portal that aligns with the square's own axis. Its main dome and its four surrounding iwans and twin minarets are covered almost entirely in haft rangi, or seven color, glazed tilework in a dense pattern of blue, turquoise and yellow, among the most extensive tile programs of any building from the period. The mosque and the wider Naqsh-e Jahan Square were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.