Panje Ali Mosque previous mosque new school

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5 Minutes

Suitable For

Duration Of Visit
0.5 To 1 Hour

Best Seasons To Visit

Panje Ali Alley, Peyghambariyeh Street, Qazvin Province, Iran

- Visitors Are Prohibited

Geographical location of Panje Ali Mosque

It is located in Panje Ali Alley beside Imam Sadeq school, west side of Peyghambariyeh Street, Qazvin Province, Iran.

History and culture of Panje Ali Mosque

There are recordings in the 9th century, Solar Hijri, history books about this monument that proves it was built sometime in the Safavid dynasty. Since there aren't any inscriptions left of this ancient mosque, the builder is anonymous but it is believed that the mosque was built by Tahmasp I and was used as a prayer place for Harem (the separated part of a Muslim household reserved for wives). In other words, there was a way from Harem to this mosque that the king and his wives could use to go there and pray.

Panje (transliterated as panjeh as well, literally ‘paw’) in Persian can be used as a human or animal toe. The reason it was named Panje Ali was because of a big, unnatural, toe-shaped sign craved on a marble stone and placed on the mosque’s mihrab (niche). It is believed that the toe print belongs to Imam Ali, Shia Islam first Imam.

Architecture of Panje Ali Mosque

The mosque has two doors, one in Peyghambariyeh St and another in Panje Ali Alley which was settled in 1880. It has a 200 m roofed area with brick arches and the middle columns, walls, and baseboard are built of marble stone and right above the baseboard you can see subtle, blue tile work. The mosque’s mihrab is also built of marble stone with round blue tiling on which is written the names of Shia Imams in Naskh (one of the first scripts of Islamic calligraphy), with white color and is adorned with Muqarnas (three-dimensional decoration of Islamic architecture) and plasterwork.

Tips and ideas

You can enter Peyghambariyeh Street from Sabzeh Meydan so don’t forget to take a walk around this flourishing square and then visit Chehel Sotun Palace. Since Peyghambariyeh Street is almost always crowded, you’d better take a taxi or walk to visit the mosque. Also Sa’d al Saltaneh Caravanserai, biggest roofed caravanserai in Iran, is on the west side of this mosque. If you wanted to try something cold, there is an old ice-cream shop on the north side of Sabzeh Meydan that you can go and make your day.

REMEMBER Qazvin is a small city so you don’t need any vehicle to go around. Also we have provided a map, below, that shows every nearby attraction which can be reached by no more than a ten-minute walk.

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Natioal Heritage Date: 2005/08/02

National Heritage Number: 12609

Address Of Panje Ali Mosque: Panje Ali Alley, Peyghambariyeh Street, Qazvin Province, Iran