Must-see attractions in Mashhad

  • Haram-e Razavi

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Holy Shrine

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Imam Khomeini Ravagh

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Boq’eh-ye Khajeh Rabi

    Mashhad

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

  • Central Museum

    Mashhad

    This eclectic museum kicks off with chunks of now-superseded shrine decor interspersed with contemporary sporting medals presented by pious athletes,…

  • Nader Shah Mausoleum

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Haftado Tan Mosque

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Azim-e Gohar Shad

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Anthropology Museum

    Mashhad

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

  • Carpet Museum

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Gonbad-e Sabz

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Caravanserai Azizolaof

    Mashhad

    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…

  • Molla Hashem Ardebilehi Mosque

    Mashhad

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

  • Bab-ol Tusi Entry Gate

    Mashhad

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