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Wednesday 2004-06-09 - Esfahān, Iran
Another beautiful mosque
Back to the Emām Khomeini square this morning with Thom and Carla. It has a different atmosphere in the morning, not just because of the morning light: the fountains are off now and most people are at work instead of relaxing after hours. It’s still just as stunning.
We pay a visit to the Emām mosque, at an oblique angle to the square because it was built angled to Mecca. Built over a period of 26 years and finished in 1638 it’s a superb example of the Safavid building style: it’s completely covered (both inside and out) with glazed tiles in the yellow and light blue specific for Esfahān, with accents in a surprising light green color I’ve not seen anywhere else. I spend nearly a whole film trying to capture the splendor (knowing I won’t even approach what I’m seeing but trying anyway). Although the intricate and sometimes playful patterns are very ‘Iranian’ in their curly complexity, I like this a lot better than the almost ‘Rococo’ flowery style of the early 19th century seen in the Vakil mosque in Shirāz.
