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Sunday 2004-06-06 - Shirāz, Iran
Religious education
After the mosque we want to visit the Madrasseh-e Khan, which we find only with the help of some Shirāz locals (it’s also in the easy-to-get-lost-in bazaar, and the map in the Lonely Planet is useless — as they are for many bazaars). Normally the public isn’t let in in this Madrassa since this is a functional religious school but after a chat with a nice young Mullah at the entrance we just walk in and aren’t stopped.
Young men sit around with study books, and at the end of the courtyard is an open hall where many Mullahs sit together in a circle for a group discussion. The tile work of the building, almost baroque in style with its many floral patterns, is superb and because here it’s all from the same (Safavid) period, forms a more balanced whole than that in the Vakil mosque. The courtyard is a beautiful space, too, with a small central pond and many shade trees and orange trees and flowers: a very pleasant place to study!
