The madrasa is entered from the bazaar, in the western area of the shrine complex of Imam Riza, and constitutes a typical Timurid symmetric four-iwan plan with a domed chamber in each corner. An inscription dates the construction to 843/1439. Amir Yusuf Khvajeh (d.846/1442) founded the madrasa to hold his tomb; his cenotaph is located under the south dome. This and the west dome are both double domes on tall drums with windows. The chamber in the east corner, under a low dome, serves as a mosque.
Living chambers with a double story façade of niches connect the iwans. All but the southeast iwan taper at the rear wall to form a bay. The southeast and northeast iwans are barrel vaulted and the other two have muqarnas semi-domes. The southwest iwan holds a mihrab.
The decoration makes lavish use of tile mosaic and haft-rangi tiles. Tile work in the courtyard possibly dates from a period of Safavid repair. Carved plaster decoration found above a dado in the entrance vestibule and in the iwans is unusual for Timurid work, resembling rather Il-Khanid techniques and design. Such work was still undertaken in Qum however, where Yusuf Khvajah had spent much time.
Sources:
Golombek, Lisa and Donald Wilber.
The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan, Volume I. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988.
O'Kane, Bernard.
Timurid Architecture in Khurasan. Costa Mesa, Ca: Mazda Publishers, 1987.
Pope, Arthur Upham. 'The Safavid Period.' In
A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, edited by Pope, Arthur Upham and Phyllis Ackerman (assistant editor), Vol. 3
Architecture, Its Ornament, City Plans, Gardens, 3rd ed., 1165-1225. Tehran: Soroush Press, 1977.
