One of the most significant buildings in architecture can be the Agha Bozorg Mosque. In this mosque you can see a combination of Iranian and Islamic culture. Agha Bozorg Mosque is one of the sights of Kashan that stands out in the heart of the desert. One of the most beautiful and glorious mosques left from the Qajar period is the Agha Bozorg Mosque, which is the only five-story mosque in the world.
This building is located in Fazel Naraghi Street, Kashan. The building of this mosque was built with the personal capital of Haj Mohammad Taghi Khanban for the use of congregational prayers and lessons and discussions of his son-in-law, nicknamed Agha Bozorg, and is known by this name.
The construction of this building began during the reign of Mohammad Shah Qajar and ended in the first years of the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah. It seems that this complex was built on the remnants of the earthquake or previous periods, especially the 40-column north nave of the mosque, which was probably built before the construction of the dome on the remains of the mosque, tomb and school of Khaja Tajuddin.
This mosque also has a school. Agha Bozorg School is built in the style of Chahar Bagh and Sadr schools in Isfahan and the plan of Kashan Agha Bozorg Mosque also has three naves. The inscriptions of Agha Bozorg Mosque were written by Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Hossein and Seyed Sadegh Kashani who were prominent calligraphers of that time.
At first glance, Agha Bozorg School may seem like a normal school, but it is different from the structure of a school. The crypt is used in it and the openness of the mosque from four sides is one of the most obvious violations that has been used in the tradition of building a mosque.
Agha Bozorg Mosque has 5 floors and has two courtyards at the top and bottom. One of the main points of the architecture of this mosque is that it combines the mosque and the school, and in it, all the various spaces needed by the school and the mosque are located together. This type of structure is in fact a kind of breaking the principles of traditional design and is not comparable to other examples, and this has made it an architectural masterpiece.
One of the architectural elements in Agha Bozorg Mosque is garden pit, which is an element in traditional Iranian architecture and was built in the center of the courtyard, and has sunk into the ground. This space has been used in arid and desert climates and has had advantages such as saving materials, access to aqueduct water, increasing the building’s resistance to earthquakes. The use of a garden pit in this building made the combination of mosque and school look better and there is no spatial interference. Another element that exists in Iranian architecture and has been cleverly used here is the windbreak. To deal with the extreme heat of the desert in summer, a windbreak was used, which allowed the air to reach the rooms.
Agha Bozorg Mosque is one of the mosques that has three naves in terms of plan, and the important and noteworthy point in this place is the combination of mosque and school. The whole building is made of bricks and the decorations used in it have given a special charm to this building. The combination of this nave with the mosque and the school that was later built next to it is one of the most beautiful and best examples of creating harmony and connecting two buildings together.
To go to this beautiful mosque, you must go to Isfahan province, Kashan, Fazel Naraghi Street, Alley of Agha Bozorg to see the beautiful complex of Agha Bozorg. To use public transportation, you can also take buses that cross Kamal-ol-Molk Square and walk a short distance to the Agha Bozorg Mosque.
