Trip

Trips are always needed to broaden our view on the world. Especially if you are an architecture student it becomes mandatory to travel and visit numerous sites and cities to absorb the architecture this world has to offer. For me, the very first division in ancient architecture would be Eastern and Western. Coming from an Eastern country, I took a rare interest in Eastern architecture especially in the field of Persian and Islamic architecture. Given the chance to travel and observe, I chose my home country, Iran as my destination. 

Iran is one of the oldest civilizations in the world having practiced architecture which dates back to at least 5000 BC.  Persian architecture is the architecture of Iran and parts of western Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia, covering most of today's Turkey, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it has achieved "an individuality distinct from that of other Muslim countries". Its paramount virtues are: "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in vault and dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture”.

Iranian architecture makes use of abundant symbolic geometry, using pure forms such as circles and squares, and plans are based on often symmetrical layouts featuring rectangular courtyards and halls.

Choosing a city to travel in Iran is a hard task. There are many places to travel and many sites to see that are worth visiting both aesthetically and architecturally. In the end, for this year’s journey, I chose Tabriz as my destination.

16th-century schematic map of Tabriz by Matrakçı Nasuh

Tabriz is one of the historical capitals of Iran and the present capital of East Azerbaijan Province which borders Armenia and Azerbaijan. Located on the northwest of the country, Tabriz is the most populated city in the Iranian Azerbaijan. Tabriz was chosen as the capital of the Persian empire many times throughout history. It was the capital of the Ilkhanate (Mongol) dynasty since 1265. During the Ghazan Khan era, who came into power in 1295, the city reached its highest splendor. The later realm stretched from the Amu Darya in the East to the Egypt borders in the West and from the Caucasus in the North to the Indian ocean in the South.

It was again the capital of Iran during the Qara Qoyunlu dynasty from 1375 to 1468 and then during the Ag Qoyunlu within 1468–1501. Finally, it was capital of the Iranian Empire in the Safavid period from 1501.

Carrying all this history, this magnificent city holds a rare Persian architecture which is mesmerizing. The patterns and symmetry of the units, the shapes which are almost always designed by the simplest and the units which hold an order and system all make this type of architecture distinct from those of other points of the world. 

Day 1 - Blue Mosque

 History

1* The Blue mosque also known as the Kabud mosque 

( Mozzafariye Seigniory ) is located in the central part of Tabriz. The Blue mosque of Tabriz was built upon the order of Jahan Shah the ruler of Qara Koyunlu dynasty which made Tabriz the capital of his Kingdom. His Kingdom covered major parts of modern Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. He was killed by Uzun Hassan (the ruler of Aq Koyunlu) and buried on the only parts of the mosque that survived.

The mausoleum was built in the southern section of the mosque and is entirely covered with high marble slabs on which verses from Quran are engraved in Thuluth script on a background of fine arabesques. The roof of the mausoleum and the main dome chamber of the mosque collapsed during an earthquake in 1779 A.D and was rebuilt in 1973 thanks to the efforts of Mohammad Reza Memaran Benam (a famous architect from Tabriz) under the supervision of the national organization for preservation of ancient monuments.

Sketch of the blue mosque showing the North facade before and after the earthquake. The highlighted ( Blue ) part shows what we see of the original blue mosque today.

Architecture ( Walkthrough and analysis )

The first scene that approaches you as you enter the courtyard is the entrance hall or the Portico ( Riwaq ) which consists of numerous rows of symmetrical arches made by bricks slightly covered by elegant tiled details with patterns which we know as the Islamic architecture.The details of these vaults were fascinating. Despite being designed and constructed back in the 13th century, the precision of these bricks and tiles and the way they connect and complete each other is extraordinary.

On-site diagram sketches of the details inside the courtyard vaults

Sketch and photograph alignment of the south wing

After passing through the portico of the courtyard you can get a glance at the South facade of the mosque. Needless to say most of the South facade has also been damaged by the earthquake. Later on those parts were also rebuilt. But as we can see they are rebuilt by bricks whereas back in the day the mosque was completely covered with blue tiles and ergo getting the name of the blue mosque. 

The original architect of this mosque is yet unknown. 

Moving from the East wing to the main entrance of the mosque you come across the main facade. As mentioned before most of the facade had collapsed back in the 18th century, leaving enormous cracks and missing tiles on the facade. On the sides as seen you can still observe the mesmerizing tiling of the Persian architecture in the day. Covering the two main sides of the facade were verses of Quran and names of God written in arabic.

The main entrance has a height of approximately 20 meters. Many cracks and gaps are seen on the facade. 

As usually seen in many Persian architectural designs, the main entrance has been embellished with the Muqarnas. 

The Muqarnas are a form of architectural ornamented vaulting, the "geometric subdivision of a squinch, or cupola, or corbel, into a large number of miniature squinches, producing a sort of cellular structure",sometimes also called “ honeycomb" vaults from their resemblance to these. They are used for domes, and especially half-domes in entrances, iwans and apses, mostly in traditional Islamic and Persian architecture.

As you enter through the main door, you get a view of the main praying hall. 

The prayer hall was a round room supported by the main dome of the mosque which exceeds up to 40 meters. The hall then divides into smaller prayer halls that have windows overlooking the courtyard. 

The structure also has a second floor around the main hall which was specifically the prayer hall for women and the main hall on the ground floor was for the praying of men.

The interior has also been severely damaged and rebuilt through the years.

The darker parts are the original tilings of the wa

Inside the halls as you go around under the enormous dome you can see the lower walls that have fascinating patterns. Patterns that today are under the name of islamic architecture can be seen and were created years ago specifically for these walls. Needless to say these walls were also destroyed by the earthquake but rebuilt. I took a look into the rebuilding process of these walls and found out that the rebuilding was done on plaster, the color made was natural and the tone of the colors were one degree lighter so that the original tiles and the rebuilt parts could be distinguishable. The completion of these two had a magnificent result.

*7  Patterns are an important element in architecture, Islamic decoration, which tends to avoid using figurative images, makes frequent use of geometric patterns which have developed over the centuries.

The geometric designs in Islamic art are often built on combinations of repeated squares and circles, which may be overlapped and interlaced, as can arabesques (with which they are often combined), to form intricate and complex patterns, including a wide variety of tessellations. These may constitute the entire decoration, may form a framework for floral or calligraphic embellishments, or may retreat into the background around other motifs. The complexity and variety of patterns used evolved from simple stars and lozenges in the ninth century, through a variety of 6 to 13 point patterns by the 13th century, and finally to include also 14- and 16-point stars in the sixteenth century.

As seen on the interior walls of the blue mosque, the patterns are very complex. But like every complex design, when broken down into smaller parts, the process can be much more feasible. 

Here I have processed the patterns and broken them down. On the top you can see the simplest pattern visible on the wall and as you move down the pattern gets more complex and complete. 

Like everything else that comes into place to create an architectural design, patterns also have a purpose. 

Authors such as Keith Critchlow argue that Islamic patterns are created to lead the viewer to an understanding of the underlying reality, rather than being mere decoration, as writers interested only in pattern sometimes imply.David Wade states that much of the art of Islam, whether in architecture, ceramics, textiles or books, is the art of decoration which is to say, of transformation. Wade argues that the aim is to transfigure, turning mosques into lightness and pattern , while the decorated pages of a Qur’an can become windows onto the infinite.

Passing through the main praying hall you reach the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is a room just about half the area of the main praying hall.

The interesting fact about this room is that as you enter it you can feel the difference between this room and the rest of the mosque. The patterns on the wall are different and the color of the tilings, instead of the normal cyan blue are a darker tone of blue. Muqarnas’ are also visible on the entrance. The patterns as mentioned changed and are much simpler than the others, which I believe are trying to inflict the feeling of peace and serenity which is feasible through the eyes. 

Another fact about this room is that the bodies of Jahan Shah the ruler of Qara Koyunlu dynasty and his wife rested beneath the sanctuary but unfortunately after the earthquake neither the bodies nor the graves ( which were predicted to be magnificent given the design of the mosque ) were found. 

Despite this fact, there was a block having a specific non geometrical pattern found which is believed to be of one of the graves.

The sketched and edited version of the pattern found. Believed to be of the graves

Day 2 - Citadel of Tabriz

History

  *2  Arg-e Ali-Shāh also known as Arg of Tabriz and citadel of Tabriz, is the remnants of a big unfinished 14th-century mausoleum and a 19th-century military castle and barrack in the center of Tabriz, Iran.

The original construction was made between 1318 and 1339, during the Ilkhanate. Within the construction, the roof of the mausoleum collapsed and the construction was stopped afterwards. Centuries later, by the eruption of the Russo-Persian War, 1804-1813, and the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), the compound was quickly reconstructed as a military compound. During the reconstruction of the Arg compound, a foundry factory for the manufacturing of cannons for the Iranian Army was built, as well as a military headquarter, a barrack for the troops, and a small palace was added as well to the original plan of the Arg.

Samson Makintsev, better known as Samson Khan, a Qajar Iranian general of Russian origin, lived inside the citadel for years together with his wife the daughter of Prince Alexandre of Georgia.

3D modeling of the original citadel of Tabriz

Architecture ( Walkthrough and analysis )

As you enter the site which the citadel is located, you can see that the citadel is protected by a field about 200 times its area. Walls surround the building and on the opposite side of the walls is the busiest part of Tabriz. as you first enter you can see the South facade of the citadel which is being rebuilt by the national organization for preservation of ancient monuments. Heading towards the building itself the main thing that attracts ones attention are the bricks. Normal bricks were not used to build this enormous castle. As normal brick widths vary between 25-30 centimeters, the bricks used in this building were about 50 centimeters in width. For reasons unclear back in the day  when building this citadel, they used unorthodox architecture techniques but one thing that is clear is that the wider bricks were for stability and for damage tolerance as the citadel was once a military castle which was the first row of defense in this ancient city. 

Being one of the most interesting buildings in the city, the citadel has many features worth sharing. Another fact about the citadel is that, despite the architecture normally practiced in the time of the building of the castle, this building does not have sharp edges and the main rectangular part of the castle have soften and more round edges. Even though this technique was used, the rounded edges were also made of the 50 centimeter wide bricks, placed with a circumference to create the softened edges. 

To conclude not much is left of this huge brick edifice. There are facts that I personally found interesting about the citadel. 

Criminals were once executed by being hurled from the top of the citadel walls.

As mentioned the construction of the monument began under advisory of Ilkhanid minister Tajeddin Alishah, as a mosque. However, the construction was halted after the death of the minister and the collapse of mosque’s roof. The citadel was used as an educational center during Safavid era. The remnants of the citadel suffered further destruction during the occupation of Tabriz by Ottoman Turks. The citadel was used as military depot and storage for Iranian Army in Qajar dynasty. After the victory of 1979 Islamic Revolution, the citadel was turned into a new mosque for Friday prayers. The remaining structure stands 28 meters high. The latest restoration was conducted by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization in 2013.

Day 3 - St.Stepanos Monastery

History 

*3   St. Stepanos Monastery of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Azerbaijan-Iran is located 16 km west of Jolfa in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran near the Darashamb region, where the Armenian Darashamb village was located too. The name of the cathedral which is also the name of the Monastery was driven from the name of the first martyr of Christianity, who was stoned and killed for his christian faith in the first century AD. 

There are different opinions about the date of the construction of this Monastery. Some of the Armenian Historians mention that it is established by one of the 12 Apostles of christ, St. Bartholomew, in the first century AD when, after the resurrection of Christ, his disciples went to the world to preach the Gospel. 

The south courtyard of the Monastery Astrophotography with polar movement of stars

Architecture ( Walkthrough and analysis )

The Cathedral has three main parts: The belfry, the main building of the Cathedral and the original Boghos-Bedros chapel, next to the Cathedral that has been mentioned by one of the Armenian Historians, Samuel Anetsi, in 640 A.D. The miniatures from 16th and 17th centuries are still visible inside the central dome of the cathedral. The interior part of the cathedral has the shape of the holy cross. To the East is located the holy Altar. The exterior walls are ornamented by many traditional Armenian stone-crosses and inscriptions in memory of thousands of Armenian benefactors who have supported this monastery during the course of history. There are also stone-pictures of the stoning of St. Stepanos, Annunciation of virgin Mary, Crucifixion of Christ and other valuable art works on the exterior walls on the cathedral.

The Monastery is surrounded by a fortress with 7 towers. The gate is located on the West wall of the fortress. In the courtyard is located the historical Theological Seminary. Thousands of students have been graduated from this place and served the Armenian church as respected clergymen. There are also cells of the monks, the dining room and the cave in the courtyard. 

Each and every year, on the name day of the Monastery the Archbishop of the Diocese with clergy and the Armenian faithful visit the Monastery and preside over the holy Mass, in memory of St. Stepanos, the first martyr of Christianity. 

 1- Main church

2- St. Boghos - Bedros church

3- Bell tower

4- North Courtyard

5- Entrance

6- Barn

7- Tower

8- South Courtyard

9- Refectory

10- Chamber of the monks

11- Kitchen

12- Prelate Armenian Prelacy of Azerbaijan - Iran

13- Gallery

14- Technical office

Original plans of the MonasteryAcquired by UNESCO

  The main entrance of the cathedral with a height of approximately 1.3 meter, was built from huge blocks of rocks. On the upper part you can see a 3d engraved picture of Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. 

The reason that the main door has been built with a low height, is because the fact that as you enter the cathedral in order to get through the door you must bend your back and that will give you a bowing position as you enter in sign of respect to Jesus and Virgin Mary.

 As you go through the entrance a three way appears that leads to the three main parts of the monastery. The main building, the Boghos-Bedros chapel and the Belfry as well as the North and south courtyard. 

The path first leads you towards the South courtyard. As you go under the chamber of the monks, a vault appears which is worth mentioning in terms of architectural design and historical value. 

The floor of the vault is a small cemetery with graves of the first martyrs of christianity. Saints who protected this church in the name of Christianity.

 Many patterns are hidden inside this vault which are very rare and are worth mentioning and observing. The meanings behind these patterns have not yet been understood completely. 

 Moving past the vault you reach the South courtyard. On the wall of the South courtyard many muqarnas like patterns are supporting the small windows. 

The most distinct fact about these muqarnas’ is that they are clearly different as of the ones that were designed and applied in the islamic era. 

The main difference between this type of muqarnas and the ones from the Islamic period is that these ones have been placed vertically and horizontally. 

Moving back towards the entrance through another path you reach the main  church. 

The main church consists of the bell tower, the main chapel and the gallery. 

The bell tower exceeds up to 25 meters in height. The stones and material used in the main church are somewhat different from the other churches. 

The most significant aspect about the materials of this monastery is the various tones of stone that were used in the building process. As seen in the picture, unlike traditional buildings, each brick or stone creating the wall differ from one another giving it a unique aesthetic aspect. Although back in the day this technique was probably used because of the fact that the monastery was on top of a mountain and the material supplies rested on the mountains nearby therefore giving different tones of stone.

Day 4 - Amir Nezam House

History 

*4 The Amir Nezam House or The Qajar Museum of Tabriz, is a historical building in the Sheshghelan district, one of the oldest quarters of the city of Tabriz, Iran. The base of the edifice covers an area of 1200 square meters. This monument which since 2006 houses a museum dedicated to the Qajar dynasty (1781-1925), was built in the period of the Crown Prince Abbas Mirza (1789-1833). It was renovated by Hasan-Ali Khan, Hasan Ali Khan Garroosy, in his position as the Major-Domo of Azerbaijan, and used as his residence. In the subsequent periods, the house was employed as the official residence of the provincial governors of Azerbaijan. Because of persistent neglect over a long period of time, this building had come to be in such a bad state of disrepair that for a time it was seriously considered to demolish it and build a school in its place. Between 1993-2006 it has been subject of an extensive renovation process and since the completion of this undertaking it has been granted the National Heritage status.

 Architecture ( Walkthrough and analysis )

The entrance of the complex has quite a distance to the main building meaning that it has a rather large courtyard or garden in front of the house. 

Passing through the garden towards the house the first feature visible is the three river-like stream ways that go through the garden into the main pool in front of the building. The interesting fact about these streams is that they were used to carry rain water into the water storage of the house which would be used as water for bathing and non-drinking purposes. These water storages connect to tunnels underneath the ground. These tunnels are called Qanat.

6* A Qanat is a gently sloping underground channel with a series of vertical access shafts, used to transport water from an aquifer under a hill. Qanats create a reliable supply of water for human settlements and irrigation in hot, arid, and semi-arid climates.

The qanat technology is known to have been developed in Iran by the Persian people sometime in the early 1st millennium BC, and spread from there slowly westward and eastward.

Having many different purposes, a Qanat would store, carry or even use water for cooling purposes. As seen in the diagram, a Qanat is used underneath a wind tower to create a natural cooling system.

Another distinct aspect of the architecture in this building is the perfect symmetry of the house and the perfect angles creating them as seen in the photo-diagram below.