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Mashhad

Mashhad is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être and main sight is the beautiful, massive and ever-growing Haram (shrine complex) commemorating the AD 818 martyrdom of Shiite Islam’s eighth Imam, Imam Reza. The pain of Imam Reza’s death is still felt very personally well over a millennium later and more than 20 million pilgrims converge here each year to pay their respects. Witnessing their tears is a moving experience, even if you’re not Muslim yourself.

Mashhad is also a good place to buy carpets, and it's a staging post for travel to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and the little-touristed Khorasan region.

Be aware that during No Ruz and major Muslim holidays, almost all accommodation and transport will be booked out months in advance. (By contrast, at other times visiting Mashhad can prove quite a bargain.)

Explore Mashhad

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Mashhad.

  • Islamic Site

    Haram-e Razavi

    Imam Reza’s Holy Shrine is enveloped in a vast series of sacred precincts collectively known as the Haram-e Razavi, or Haram for short. This magical city…

  • Islamic Shrine

    Holy Shrine

    Amid tearful prayer and meditation, the climax to any Mashhad pilgrimage is touching and kissing the zarih (gold-latticed cage), which covers Imam Reza’s…

  • Islamic Site

    Imam Khomeini Ravagh

    All a-dazzle with intricate, mirror-faceted tiling, this former courtyard is now enclosed and entirely covered by a sparkling ceiling held in place by…

  • Mausoleum

    Boq’eh-ye Khajeh Rabi

    This beautifully proportioned, blue-domed mausoleum commemorates an apostle of the prophet Mohammad who later exiled himself to Khorasan to avoid tensions…

  • Museum

    Central Museum

    This eclectic museum kicks off with chunks of now-superseded shrine decor interspersed with contemporary sporting medals presented by pious athletes,…

  • Mausoleum

    Nader Shah Mausoleum

    Elsewhere in the Middle East, Nader Shah is considered something of a historical tyrant. But here he’s a local hero for briefly returning Khorasan to the…

  • Mosque

    Haftado Tan Mosque

    Just outside the Haram complex’s official limits sits this splendid 15th-century mosque, originally built as a Timurid-era tomb. It is famous for its mo…

  • Mosque

    Azim-e Gohar Shad

    Exploring the Haram you might glimpse the 50m blue dome and cavernous golden portal of this classic Timurid mosque, built from 1405 to 1418. Unfortunately…

  • Museum

    Anthropology Museum

    The main delight of this spacious museum in a former bathhouse is the central dome's 1922 naive murals featuring anthropomorphic figures gallivanting…

  • Museum

    Carpet Museum

    Arguably the Haram's best museum. Rugs displayed here range from beautiful classics through to garish coral gardens and a Tabriz-made carpet-portrait of…

  • Mausoleum

    Gonbad-e Sabz

    The small, 17th-century blue-domed tomb of scholar and mystic Momen Mashhadi forms a pretty sight in the middle of a traffic circle. The last remaining…

  • Bazaar

    Caravanserai Azizolaof

    Behind heavy wooden doors, this 90-year-old caravanserai is full of underwear stalls run by Afghan merchants. It's fascinating for its cameo scenes of…

  • Mosque

    Molla Hashem Ardebilehi Mosque

    With its eye-catching clock tower, the Molla Hashem Mosque is a useful landmark at the north edge of the Haram area.

  • Gate

    Bab-ol Tusi Entry Gate

    The Haram's northwestern entrance is a work in progress, with beautiful twin minarets under construction above the portal.