Sunday, August 30, 2026 Search My Trip EnglishChinese
World news · travel · culture
Taiwan The Taiwan Times
Taiwan's window to the world

Red Dome (Maragheh)

Iran

The Gonbad-e Sorkh (lit. 'The Red Dome') is the name of a historic building in Maragheh, Iran, built in 1147 AD (542 AH) in the Seljuk era. The architectural style of this building is Razi style. The Gonbad-e Sorkh is one of the oldest buildings of the Islamic period in the East Azerbaijan province, which is located in the southwestern part of the city of Maragheh and it is one of the most important historical monuments of this city. The name of the founder of the building and the date of its construction can be seen from the inscription of the northern front and the name of its builder can be seen from the western inscription. The Gonbad-e Sorkh has seven inscriptions. From the inscriptions in this building, it is understood that the building of the Gonbad-e Sorkh (Red Dome) was built in 1147 AD (542 AH) by the order of "Abdul Aziz Ibn Mahmoud Ibn Saad Yadim", the president of Azerbaijan during the Seljuk era, and designed by "Bani Bakr Mohammad Ibn Bandan Ibn Mohsen Memar". Cultural heritage experts believe that this building was used before the Maragheh observatory to determine the months of the year and the hours of the day, and the holes created on the sides of this building indicate this. The building was registered as one of the Iran National Heritage on 6 January 1932 with the registration number 134. The Gonbad-e Sorkh is the oldest of the five tombs in Maragheh, and despite the existence of legible inscriptions, it is not clear who owns the tomb under the dome. The Gonbad-e Sorkh is the last building constructed in the Razi style in Iranian architectural history. Razi style is a style in Iranian architecture and is related to the fifth to the beginning of the seventh Hijri lunar century (Samanid Empire, Seljuk Empire and Khwarazmian Empire). The building also has some Azeri architecture theme so it is the turning point and the beginning of Azeri architecture, which is a combination of bricks and tiles and the use of tiles in decorating historical buildings in Iran. The Gonbad-e Sorkh is a square building with 2 floors consisting of a crypt and a main room which is located on a stone platform and can be accessed by seven rows of sta

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Other mausoleums in Iran