Mashhad-i Bayazid Bastami

Located on the outskirts of the village are two clusters of structures that were perhaps originally joined as one group. The larger building cluster includes the mausoleum of Bayazid; a Seljuk minaret and part of a Seljuk wall; the mausoleum of Imamzada Muhammad Bistam Mirza; two other tombs and oratories; an entrance iwan portal and corridor; an iwan portal opposite this; a madrasa built by Shah Rukh.Extant traces of pre-Seljuk construction indicate that work on the shrine of mystic Bayazid al-Bistami (d.874 or 877) may have begun not long after his death. The minaret and a wall fragment of a mosque remain from the Seljuk period (both now incorporated into the existing mosque), dated by an inscription to 514/1120.Repairs were undertaken during the reign of Ghazan Khan, and the mosque within the shrine complex was decorated with carved stucco. This work, and much of the work to follow, was undertaken by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Abi Talbod Damghan, including a fine mihrab inscribed with his name and the date 699/1299.A second period of construction, also under Muhammad ibn al-Husayn is dated to the reign of Oljeitu and includes the addition of an eastern entrance portal and corridor; an iwan situated across the courtyard from this portal; and possibly includes the enclosing of the entire shrine complex. The entrance portal is formed of a tall arch with a semi-dome of muqarnas, the walls covered with faience and unglazed terracotta. Unlike typical contemporary examples of faience in western Iran which use smaller units of squares, rectangles and triangles in an interlocking geometry, at Bastam parallelepipeds or more complex forms with moulded elements in relief intersect to form borders. The iwan across the courtyard is decorated similarly. This iwan possibly once lead to a second courtyard that no longer exists. Sources:Pope, Arthur Upham, ed., Phyllis Ackerman, assist. ed. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Vol. 3, Architecture, Its Ornament, City Plans, Gardens, 3rd ed., 1080-1084. Tehran: Soroush Press, 1977. Donald N. Wilber. The Architecture of Islamic Iran. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969.