The Mausoleum of Imamzadeh Saleh (as)

The formation of the initial building of this mausoleum, which is the tomb of a son of Imam Musa al-Kazim (as), the seventh Shiite Infallible Imam, dates back to the fifth century AH/ 12^th century CE. The mausoleum is located at Tajrish Square in Tehran’s northern Shemiran district and had been renovated and during the Safavid and Qajar era and some parts were added to the initial building.

Being situated over an area of three thousand sq. meters, this mausoleum has a courtyard, some porches, a mosque, a dome, and a smaller courtyard that had once been a public cemetery. There is a crypt on the lower floor of the main building, where the main grave is located. It is said that the head of this Imamzadeh is buried in this tomb while his body is buried in a tomb of the same name in the city of Ardabil.

One of the most famous ancient sycamore trees of Iran, which was at least eight hundred years old, existed in the courtyard of this mausoleum until a few years ago; about which mention has been made in the memoires of foreign tourists.

The mausoleum of Imamzadeh Saleh is also the burial place of a number of Iranian famous and prominent personalities. Presently this mausoleum has only one cemetery, which is located in the basement of the mausoleum and is called the Masoumiyah Porch. The bodies of five unknown soldiers of the imposed war on Iran (by the Iraqi Ba’athist regime) and that of Majid Shahriari, an assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist, too, are buried in the courtyards of the mausoleum.

This mausoleum hosts many pilgrims every day and every year a commemoration ceremony is held in the honor of Imamzadeh Saleh on the 5th of Dhul Qadah - the 11^th month of the Islamic lunar calendar - coinciding with his birth date. It is said that in the distant past when the route to Tajrish was difficult to pass in the winters - due to snowfall - pilgrims to this mausoleum brought salt with them and sprinkled it on the path to open the way for other pilgrims and since salt has come to be one of the items - like bread, cheese, green vegetables, and dates - that people distribute in this mausoleum as part of their vows.