Shrine of Fatima Masumeh

The shrine of Fatima Masumeh in Qom is the second most important Shia shrine in Iran after the mausoleum of Imam Reza in Mashhad. Buried here is the sister of the eighth imam, who died in Qom in 816 on her way to her brother in Khorasan. A simple canopy was set over the grave at first, then a domed tomb, and the complex acquired its present appearance under the Safavids and the Qajars, when the gilded dome, the tall minarets, the mirrored halls and the three spacious marble-paved courtyards appeared. The dome was covered with gold plates under Fath-Ali Shah at the beginning of the nineteenth century; the iwans were widened at the same time and galleries with tilework were added. Inside, the walls and vaults are made up entirely of mirror mosaic that breaks the light into thousands of glints, and the tomb is closed off by a silver grille. The country's largest theological schools have grown up around the shrine, and because of them Qom is called the religious capital of Iran. The outer courtyards stay crowded at any hour of the day or night.

This is one of the chief shrines of the country and a very strict place: non-Muslims are as a rule not admitted to the inner halls by the tomb, but the spacious outer courtyards are open and it is fine to walk around them. Dress must be extremely modest; women must wear a headscarf, and a chador, handed out at the entrance, is advisable. It is at its most crowded on religious dates.

Address

ورودی حرم مطهر, Qom

On the map