Sanjīda Mosque of Qazvīn: Function and Date of Construction

Abstract

There is a historic monument called the “Sanjīda Mosque” in the old Rah-Rey district in the city of Qazvin. However, the patron and date of its construction are unknown. Regarding the physical evidence in the building, as well as written evidence provided in the restoration reports and the works of some previous researchers on the resemblance of the building form to that of mausoleums, it is plausible that the original building served another purpose before it was modified to function as a mosque. There are various views regarding its original function. Some believe that the building was originally a fire temple later converted into a “mosque.” There is also a famous hearsay that the dome chamber of the Sanjīda building is the burial place of Hasan-i Sabbāh, the leader of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī sect in Iran. Yet, some others believe that it contains the tomb of one of Imam Mūsā Kāẓim’s (the seventh Shi‘i Imam) descendants. Consequently, the building presents a certain degree of complexity and ambiguity. The areas of ambiguity include the original form and function of the building, the existence of associated urban features, and the cause and date of modifying its function. In this research, we attempted to examine various types of physical and historical evidence to propose and discuss several suppositions regarding the original function of the Sanjīda building. According to the explicit physical evidence, as well as written and contextual evidence, the detailed result suggests that the hypothesis proposing a mausoleum as the original function of the building is more plausible compared to others.