The Pink Mosque is one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the world. To come to Shiraz and not visit Nasir-or Molk is a real crime: where else you can see a mosque, inside and out, painted with roses.
History and features of the structure
The Nasir-or Molk Mosque is the oldest mosque in Shiraz, built at the end of the 19th century by the design of Mirza Mohammad Hossein-Memar and Mohammad Reza Kashi Paze Shirazi. The location in the city center makes visiting it convenient.
The second, unofficial name "Mosque of Roses", or "Pink Mosque", the building received thanks to the painting unusual for a mosque: the entire facade is decorated with fancy flowers, mainly roses. Considering that the decoration of the mosque stands out from the generally accepted canon, it can be recognized as one of a kind. Flowers are one of the symbols of Shiraz, where 300 types of beautiful rose bushes grow.
Due to the inconsistency with the Muslim canon and popularity among tourists in 1979, the Nasir-or Molk mosque received the status of a museum and became one of the main tourist attractions in the city.
Interior decoration
The building area is 2890 square meters. The main hall of the mosque is located on the west side. Its main feature is the artfully created stained glass windows:
- A palette of colors typical for Shiraz is used - black, white, blue, light blue, red, terracotta and yellow
- Each stained glass window is created in its own style: one consists of geometric shapes, the second - colors of different sizes and shapes, the third resembles a kaleidoscope, etc.
- The best time to visit the museum is early morning, the period of sunrise, when the sun's rays flood the space of the mosque and shimmer in different colors thanks to the stained glass overflows. A Japanese photographer named Koach wrote: “The sight of morning sunlight shining through the multicolored stained glass windows and falling on the Persian carpet on the floor is so mesmerizing that it seems like it is from another world. Even if you are the most remote person from religion in the whole world, when you see this light, you will have an impulse to raise your hands in prayer. Perhaps the builders of this mosque wanted to show their faith through the morning light shining through the stained glass windows".
Taking beautiful photos, enjoying the unusual architecture and feeling the special atmosphere are 3 reasons why you need to visit the Pink Mosque and put the memory of this in your heart for a lifetime.
