Sheikh Haidar’s Mausoleum

Sheikh Haidar’s Mausoleum is located in the Meshginshahr City of Ardabil Province of Iran. The main building of this mausoleum was built in the seventh and eighth centuries AH/14^th and 15^th centuries CE, but its decorations and tilework belong to the late ninth and early tenth centuries AH/16^th and 17^th centuries CE (Safavid era).

The Tomb of Sheikh Haidar which is believed to be the resting place of the father of the Safavid king, Shah Ismail I, is a brick building in the form of a circular tower with a height of more than 18 meters decorated with tilework. The inner side of the building is 12-sided and is located in the Sheikh Haidar’s Mausoleum complex that was once the main cemetery of Meshginshahr. From among the main parts of this complex mention can be made of the main gate, the large courtyard, the small courtyard, the martyrs’ shrine, the mosque of the cemetery and the chellehkhaneh, etc. Gonbad-e Allah (lit. Allah Dome) is the most impressive and, of course, the most popular part of the complex.

The mausoleum is based on a stone foundation. Its entrance and three windows are decorated with plasterwork and tilework, and a niche-shaped frame can be seen everywhere. The inside of the tomb consists of two lower and upper floors and the entrance door of the crypt is located in the north of the tower, which is accessed by a long staircase leading to a narrow path before entering the crypt. The arch of this part is located on a brick pillar in the middle and walls on the sides. Sheikh Haidar’s tomb is located in the crypt. It is said that the roof of Sheikh Haidar’s Mausoleum had a golden dome, which was bombed and looted by the Russians in the war between the Quja Beyglu tribe and Russian forces in the year 1858 CE.