Islamic Mosque 7th Century Plan Drawing

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The architectural heritage of the Islamic world is staggeringly rich. Here'southward a listing of a few of the well-nigh iconic mosques, palaces, tombs, and fortresses.

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.
© Ron Gatepain

In 1631 Mumtaz Mahal, the third and favorite wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58), died while giving birth to the couple'southward fourteenth child. Devastated, the emperor commissioned the Taj Mahal, a massive mausoleum complex on the southern bank of the Yamuna (Jumna) River that ultimately took more than twenty years to complete. Today the Taj Mahal is the most famous piece of Islamic compages in the earth, with the possible exception of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The monument is remarkable both for its size (the finial of the dome of the primal mausoleum stands 240 feet [73 meters] above ground level) and for its graceful form, which combines elements of Indian, Islamic, and Persian blueprint. From afar, viewers are dazzled by the white marble of the key tomb, which appears to alter color with daylight. Up close, the building is richly decorated with Arabic calligraphy and inlays of semiprecious stones. Within there are cenotaphs (false tombs) for Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the bodily tombs are in a chamber beneath the ground floor. Equally early every bit the 1660s, travelers reported that Shah Jahan had intended to build a matching mausoleum for himself out of black granite on the opposite bank of the Yamuna; mod scholars, yet, regard this as a legend with no basis in fact.
The Alhambra

The Alhambra© Xavier Allard/Fotolia

On a loma overlooking the Spanish metropolis of Granada stands the Alhambra, a palace built by princes belonging to the Muslim Nasrid dynasty (1238–1492) in the 14th century. Although some portions of the palace take been demolished, 3 parts remain: a fortress (Alcazaba, or al-Qasbah) on the westward end of the hill, a princely residence to the eastward, and a cluster of pavilions and gardens known as the Generalife. The courtyards and rooms of the Alhambra are exquisitely busy with colored tiles, carved stucco, carved wood, and calligraphy. Some of the nigh remarkable ornamental features are the intricately carved geometric stalactite designs (a recurring design in Islamic architecture called muqarnas in Arabic) that beautify the halls surrounding the Court of the Lions.
The Friday Mosque, Esfahan

Fri Mosque, Esfahan© Suronin/Dreamstime.com

Located at the center of Esfahan—a metropolis total of architectural treasures—is the sprawling Friday Mosque. A mosque has stood on the site since the 8th century, just the oldest elements of the current structure are ii domes built during the Seljuk dynasty, which ruled parts of Iran in the 11th century. In the early 12th century the mosque was rebuilt effectually a rectangular courtyard adjoined on each side past an iwan—a type of hall that opens into a tall arch on one side. The iv-iwan design, which first appeared in Esfahan, afterward became the norm for Iranian mosques.
The Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.
Michael Freeman—Digital Vision/Getty Images

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is the oldest extant Islamic monument and one of the best-known. Built in 691–692, about 55 years after the Arab conquest of Jerusalem, the design and ornament are rooted in the Byzantine architectural tradition only also display traits that would later come to be associated with a distinctly Islamic architectural style. The structure consists of a gilt wooden dome sitting atop an octagonal base. Inside, two ambulatories circumvolve around a patch of exposed stone. The site is sacred to both Judaism and Islam; in Jewish tradition it is said to exist the spot where Abraham prepared to cede his son Isaac,and in Islamic tradition it is held to be the site of Muhammad's rising to heaven. The interior is richly busy with marble, mosaics, and metal plaques.
Nifty Mosque of Samarra

spiral minaret in Samarra© morane/Fotolia

When the Groovy Mosque of Samarra (in Iraq) was built by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil (reigned 847–861) effectually 850, information technology was probably the largest mosque in the world, with a total area of nearly 42 acres. The mosque was built out of baked brick, with an interior decorated with blue glass. Almost of the construction was destroyed during the Mongol invasion led by Hulagu in 1258, simply one of the most-intriguing features, the 170-human foot (52-meter) minaret, survived. The minaret is built in the shape of a cone, wrapped in a spiraling ramp that leads to the meridian. It'due south unclear why the builders chose the conical shape; some people accept noted that it slightly resembles an ancient ziggurat.
The Citadel of Aleppo

Aleppo Citadel© OPIS Zagreb/Shutterstock.com

Some of the most impressive works of compages in the Eye East are the medieval fortresses in cities such as Cairo, Damascus, and Irbil. One of the best remaining examples of Islamic war machine architecture is the citadel that stands on the top of a loma in the eye of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Archeologists have found fortifications on the site dating back to Roman times and earlier, but the citadel was begun in the 10th century and acquired its current form in a massive expansion and reconstruction during the Ayyubid era (about 1171–1260). Within the walls of the citadel there are residences, chambers to store supplies, wells, mosques, and defensive installations—everything needed to hold out against a long siege. The most-imposing part of the circuitous is the massive entrance block, built around 1213. A steep stone span resting on seven arches leads across the moat (at present dry out) to two towering gates—the Gate of the Serpents and the Gate of the Lions. To enter the citadel, invaders would have had to penetrate both gates and navigate a winding passageway while defenders poured boiling liquids down on them and arrows shot from numerous pointer slits rained downward on them from above.
Great Mosque of Córdoba

Corking Mosque of Córdoba
Interior, Keen Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, begun 785.
Alfonso Gutierrez Escera/Ostman Agency

The earliest parts of the Dandy Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, were congenital on the site of a Christian church by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rahman I in 784–786. The structure underwent several enlargements in the 9th and 10th centuries. During 1 of these enlargements a richly decorated mihrab (a niche in a mosque pointing in the direction of Mecca) set behind an intricate arch was added. Another remarkable feature of the mosque is the hypostyle hall consisting of approximately 850 columns made of porphyry, jasper, and marble supporting ii-tier horseshoe arches. Most of the columns and capitals were recycled from before buildings.
Suleymaniye Mosque complex, Istanbul

dome of the Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul© Scaliger/Dreamstime.com

Some of the most prominent features of the Istanbul skyline are the towering dome and minarets of the Suleymaniye Mosque complex, which stands on an bogus platform overlooking the Bosporus. Built past the Ottoman emperor Suleyman the Magnificent between 1550 and 1557 at the meridian of the Ottoman Empire'due south ability, it is the largest and arguably the almost beautiful of the regal mosque complexes in Istanbul. The interior of the mosque is a single square-shaped room, illuminated past more than 100 large windows, many of which are stained glass. The ornamentation is elementary and does non distract from the imposing size of the primal dome, which measures 90 feet (27.5 meters) in diameter. Arranged around the mosque itself are a hospital, several religious schools, a row of shops, a mausoleum, and a bath. The complex was designed past the Ottoman master architect Sinan, whose buildings were critical to the establishment of a distinctly Ottoman fashion of compages, and it is considered one of his masterpieces. Both Sinan and Suleyman are buried in the complex.