Timchah-i Qum

The old Qom bazaar, the original core of the city, is located along the Ray-Kashan route. Its current form dates to the Safavid period, and was built around the Friday mosque. The new Qom bazaar was built during the reign of Qajar king Nasser al-din Shah (1831-1896). Development of this bazaar continued during the first years of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979). During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), the old bazaar was partially destroyed.The timcheh of Qom was commissioned by a well-known Qom merchant, Mahmoud Tabatabayee, and designed by the architect Hassan Qomi in 1883. Rectangular in plan with chamfered corners, the timcheh has two entrances oriented towards the bazaar. Three domes and two half-domes roof the timcheh and allow skylight to enter the building. At its center, the timcheh is fifteen meters high, and column-free. Muqarnas enable the transition between the walls of the central chamber and its domes.Twenty-eight meters long by fifteen meters wide, the timcheh has two levels. Twenty rooms fill the ground floor, and the upper floor contains twelve. The upper floor is fenestrated; formerly, these were sash windows ornamented with polychrome tiles. Today (2006) only samples of these remain.Sources:"Timcheh Bozorg Qom." Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization. http://www. iranmiras.ir. [Accessed March 20, 2006; inaccessible October 31, 2013] "The Timcheh of Qom." Masoumeh Shrine Website. http://www.masoumeh.com. [Accessed March 20, 2006; inaccessible October 31, 2013]