The Pink Mosque
Built at the end of the 19th century for a Qajar-era nobleman, Mirza Hassan Ali, who held the title Nasir al-Mulk, this mosque is known to the world as the Pink Mosque because of the rose-coloured tiles that cover its courtyard and many of its walls. Its tilework mixes traditional Persian patterns with flowers and landscapes.
The light
The mosque is most famous for the winter prayer hall on the west side of the courtyard. Its tall windows are filled with panes of coloured glass, and on a clear morning the sun comes through them and fills the room with moving patches of red, blue, green and gold across the carpets, columns and walls. Visitors arrive early, just as the light begins to enter, to see it.
