Page:Historyofpersiaf00watsrich.djvu/116

 by more than fifty thousand pilgrims in the course of each year, and from the revenues of which eight hundred persons are fed daily. The quadrangle of this mosque is about one hundred and fifty paces square, and is paved with large flagstones, having in the centre a beautiful kiosk, which was built by Nadir Shah, and which is covered with gold and raised over the reservoir of the water for ablutions. A range of alcoves extends round three sides of this quadrangle at some ten feet from the ground. A wall of considerable height surrounds the court, having on each side a gigantic archway covered above the entrance with blue tiles and with inscriptions in white and gold. Over the western archway is a white cage for the muezzin, and outside of it is a very high minaret, the beauty of which cannot be exaggerated. The capital is exquisitely carved, and the shaft below it, for about twenty feet, is covered with gold; as is a light pillar of about half that height above it. This portion of the mosque was built by Shah Abbass. In the centre of the eastern side of the quadrangle, two large doors admit the pilgrims into the inner mosque, which contains the marble tomb of Imam Reza, surrounded by a silver and golden railing. Beyond these two doors, are two smaller ones encrusted with jewels of great value. The inner mosque is capable of containing three thousand persons, and over it rises a dome entirely covered with gold, with two minarets at the sides, likewise gilded all over. Beyond the golden dome is a smaller one of bright blue, which marks the beginning of another mosque, the quadrangle of which is larger than that of