Maragheh Gonbad-e Sorkh
Maragheh Gonbad-e Sorkh (Red Dome) is one of the oldest tombs of the Seljuk period, located southwest of the city of Maragheh in the province of East Azerbaijan. This building was built in 1147 by the order of Abdul Aziz-Ibne Mahmud-Ibne Saeed, the governor of Azerbaijan in the Seljuk period and by Bani Bakr Muhammad Bin Bandan Bin Mohsen, one of the famous architects of that era.
This dome of Maragheh was registered in 1931 with the number 134 on the list of national monuments of Iran. Some experts believe that this building had a calendar feature and was used before the Maragheh Observatory to determine the months of the year and the hours of the day. The holes made on the sides of the structure are a confirmation of their theory.
Features of architecture and decoration
Gonbad-e Sorkh Maragheh, which is one of the famous attractions of East Azerbaijan Province, is a square building. This building includes the chamber and the main room which is located on a stone platform. Researchers consider this room to be a place of worship, the basement below the room has also been used to bury the dead, the floor of the room is covered with pieces of cut stone and the interior walls of the building are plastered. This building has a double-shell dome; the outer shell that is collapsed now was built in a pyramidal shape.
The dome has seven steps, the last two steps of which are considered as a kind of threshold. This building has stone capitals in its four corners, which in addition to touching the beauty of the building, has been used as a fortification in the building. In addition, windows have been created on all four sides of the building to adjust the air or even measure time. Considering the use of turquoise glazed bricks with red bricks in the exterior of this building, the architectural style of Maragheh Gonbad-e Sorkh is known as Azeri style. Because in the secret architectural method that existed before the Azeri style, colored glazed bricks were not used. Therefore, many experts consider this Maragheh Gonbad as the starting point of Azeri style architecture. The red bricks engraved in this building are the culmination of the Seljuk brickwork art.
In the northern part of the entrance of the building, two inscriptions have been installed in which the name of the founder and the year of construction of the building are engraved. There is also an inscription in the western part that shows the name of the architect of the building. Verses of the Qur'an can also be seen in the eastern and southern inscriptions of the dome. All inscriptions are written in Kufic script.
Tags: Attractions, East Azarbaijan Province, Maragheh Gonbad-e Sorkh
