Masjed-e Tarik Khana

As the earliest extant mosque in Iran, the Tarik Khana still uses Sasanian construction techniques and materials, lending a dark and heavy feel to the building. This is a hypostyle mosque with a courtyard, a covered prayer hall, and two side arcades [riwaqs]. The aisle leading to the qibla is wider than the rest and also distinguished by a higher arched entrance. Composed of brick covered with stucco, the mosque has thick and heavy piers in the Sasanian mode and flat domes topping each vault of the prayer hall. The tall, slender minaret is later than the mosque and is typical of the Seljuq period with its geometric brick decoration.Its elliptical arches and massive columns, resembling those of Sasanian palaces, show the adoption of pre-Islamic techniques for the construction of an Arab-type hypostyle mosque.exterior, view of courtyard and minaret, 200