[it] owes its existence to a dream On the 27th of May 1934 Byron visits and describes the Mausoleum of Hazrat Ali (most commonly called Rowze-i Sharif) in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, and two smaller mausoleums next to it. THE LEGEND The passage Byron dedicates to the Mausoleum opens with a historical account of how it was…
Tag: mausoleum
A brief visit to the Masjid-i Mawlana of Tayabad
which had a beautiful stucco inscription backed by turquoise glaze In the entry dated 12th May 1934, Byron records that the previous day, thus on the 11th of May 1934, he visited the Mawlana at Taybad. His visit seems quite brief: he was in a hurry since a storm was coming that could stop him…
Byron’s disappointment and a teachable moment: the Turbat-i Sheikh Ahmad Jami Shrine
The shrine there was disappointing The 8th of May 1934 was quite a disappointing day for Robert Byron. That day, on his way to Kariz, due to the heavy rain, Byron decided to skip his visit to Sang Bast and its monuments and go directly to the Turbat-i Sheikh Ahmad Jami Shrine. Unfortunately, Byron was disappointed by this…
Arslan Jadhib Mausoleum and Minaret
a rainy sky made us push on On the 8th of May 1934, on his way to Kariz, wanted to stop at Sang Bast, to visit a monument there: a mausoleum and its minaret. From his travelogue, we know that he did not manage: “We meant to stop at Sengbest to examine an eleventh-century mausoleum…
The hidden decoration of the Vaqt-i Sa’at
The most elaborate of them Robert Byron is impressed by the beauty of the monuments of Yazd. In the entry dated 20th March 1934 of his travelogue, he writes down how unexpected it was for him to encounter such beauty. An extraordinary series of simple, egg-domed mausoleums now lured us across the town—extraordinary in that, being…
Khatun Mausoleum
The brick is rosy buff, like the hills Byron, on the 17th of February 1934, keeps going around Shiraz and recording “more curious than beautiful” monuments. After the Friday Mosque and the Madrasa-i Khan, he visits the Khatun Mausoleum. As already happened with the Madrasa-i Khan, also the Khatun Mausoleum apparently is hardly taken into…
Drinking from the spring of Paradise: the inscription of the Gunbad-i ‘Alaviyyan
The Gunbad-i ‘Alaviyyan is not the most famous building of the Iranian heritage, this is for sure. Considered to have been built around 1150, in the city of Hamadan (the Ancient Greek Ectabana), not much is known about the monument: no inscription provides the date or a name whatsoever. The traditional name is Gunbad-i ‘Alaviyyan,…
Gunbad-i Haruniyya: before and after Byron’s visit
It alone survives of the splendours of Tus The ancient city of Tus has a long and important history. Long before Robert Byron recorded his visit in his travelogue, on the 18th of November 1933, Tus had been one of the most important and flourishing cities in Iran. It was known to the Greek, who…
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