Madrasah-i Sultani

Kashan, Iran

Madrasa-i Sultani is a madrasa and mosque complex located in the heart of Kashan, just off its main bazaar street. Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797-1834/1212-1250 AH) commissioned the mosque to be built in 1807/1221 AH, and it was completed by 1814/1229 AH, according to an inscription on site.

The madrasa is organized around a large central court. The court planted with garden plots, and has a water channel running the length down the center from northeast to southwest. At the center of the court the water channel opens into an octagonal basin.  

The complex is accessed through an entrance portal on its northeast side, which leads onto a vestibule that opens onto the court through an iwan in the center of the courtyard's northeast facade. Directly opposite this is the prayer hall, which takes the form of a large domed hall fronted with an iwan. The two lateral sides of the court also have large central halls. Between these four structures are fifty-two cells for students, each opening onto the court through a shallow porch covered by a muqarnas vault.

Sources:

Haeri, Mohammad-Reza. "Kashan v. Architecture (2) Historical Monuments." Encyclopaedia Iranica.http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kashan-v2-historical-monuments (Accessed June 12, 2018).