Mashhad (meaning "Place of Martyrdom" in Arabic) is Iran's second-largest city and the holiest city in the country — home of the Imam Reza Shrine Complex, the largest mosque complex in the world by area (600,000 m²) and one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the Shia Muslim world, receiving 25–30 million pilgrims annually. Mashhad sits in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, at the foot of the Binalud Mountains near the Afghan and Turkmenistan borders — the frontier character of the city gives it a different energy from Tehran. The Goharshad Mosque within the shrine complex is one of the finest examples of Timurid Islamic architecture.
The Imam Reza Shrine Complex (Haram-e Motahhar) is the holiest site in Iran — the tomb of Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (Imam Reza, 818 AD), the eighth Imam of Twelver Shia Islam. The complex covers 600,000 m² of courtyard, mosque, library, museum and hospital. Non-Muslim visitors are welcomed in the outer courtyards and some inner areas (modest dress required; women must wear chador — available at the entrance). The scale is overwhelming.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Goharshad Mosque (1418, built by Goharshad Begum, wife of Shah Rukh the Timurid ruler) within the shrine complex is one of the finest examples of Timurid Islamic architecture — the turquoise and gold tilework, the minarets and the arched facade of the prayer hall are at the same level as the great mosques of Samarkand.
The golden dome of the Imam Reza Shrine at sunset (the dome is covered with approximately 45kg of gold leaf) reflects the light in extraordinary ways from the surrounding courtyards. The atmosphere — pilgrims from across Iran and the wider Shia world, the chanting, the weeping, the prayers — is among the most intense religious experiences in Asia.
Khorasan cuisine (northeastern Iranian) is distinct from Tehran cooking — the shole-zard (saffron and rice pudding with cinnamon and rosewater), the Khorasani kebab (lamb on flat skewers with a specific spice mix), and the adasi soup (lentil soup with lime juice, the most common Iranian street food). At any restaurant in the central Mashhad area near the shrine.
The Imam Reza Shrine complex is open 24 hours and is most intense late at night when pilgrims from across Iran arrive after long bus journeys. The combination of the lit shrine, the nocturnal prayers and the emotional intensity of the pilgrims is impossible to describe.
The museum within the shrine complex holds the finest collection of Islamic art in Iran — Quran manuscripts (some illuminated by the Timurid calligraphers), Safavid-era carpets (the finest Persian carpet tradition, woven specifically for the shrine), ceramics, metalwork and textile collections. One of the most important Islamic museums in the world and largely unknown outside Iran.
The covered bazaar around the shrine complex (Bazar-e Reza) is the most important spice market in Iran — Iran produces 90% of the world's saffron and much of it is sold here (at vastly lower prices than anywhere else). The zereshk (barberries — the tiny sour red berries that go into the finest Persian rice), the turmeric, the dried lime (limu omani) and the Khorasani pistachios are all sold by weight.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMashhad (despite its religious character) has a strong arts scene — the Mashhad Cultural Centre and several galleries in the newer parts of the city show contemporary Iranian art. The Pardis Cinema complex is one of Iran's finest.
Dizi (abgoosht) — lamb, chickpea and potato stew in a stone crock — is Iran's most traditional meal: the broth is drunk first with bread, then the solids are mashed with a pestle and eaten separately. With sangak (the large dimpled flatbread baked on river pebbles — the finest bread in Iran, sold fresh from the bakery on every block). At a dizi restaurant (there are dozens around the bazaar).
Strong Persian chai (tea brewed very dark, served with a sugar cube to hold in the teeth — the taarof tea ceremony) with gaz (nougat with pistachios and rose water, a Mashhad specialty) and sohan (Khorasan brittle toffee with saffron and cardamom). At a chaykhaneh (tea house) near the shrine.
Neyshabur (100 km west of Mashhad) is one of the great historic cities of Khorasan — the birthplace of Omar Khayyam (mathematician, astronomer and poet of the Rubáiyát, 1048–1131 AD) and the primary source of the finest Persian turquoise (fairouz).
The mausoleum of Omar Khayyam (1963, architect Hooshang Seyhoun in a modernist Iranian style) is in a garden with roses and a pool — the monument to the author of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam (translated by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859, introducing Persian poetry to the English-speaking world) is moving and quiet. The adjacent tombs of the poets Kamal al-Mulk and Attar are also in Neyshabur.
The Firuzeh turquoise mine near Neyshabur has been worked since at least 2,000 BC — Persian turquoise (the finest in the world) was traded on the Silk Road from here to Venice. The mine is open to visitors and the adjoining workshop makes jewelry from the freshly extracted stone.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideReturn to Mashhad through the Khorasan plain — the mountains of Afghanistan visible on the horizon in the clear air.
Fesenjan (duck or chicken in a rich slow-cooked walnut and pomegranate molasses sauce) with Khorasani-style zereshk polo (barberry and saffron rice with chicken) — the two finest Persian dishes on the last night in northeastern Iran.
One last visit to the Imam Reza Shrine at night — the gold dome lit above the courtyards, the pilgrims still praying, the call to midnight prayer. The most affecting final hour in any Iranian city.