Chahartaq (architecture)

Chartaq (Persian: چارطاق‎), chahartaq (چهارطاق), chartaqi (چارطاقی), or chahartaqi (چهارطاقی),^[1] literally meaning "four arches", is an architectural unit consisted of four barrel vaults and a dome.

History

Chartaqi was a prominent element in Iranian architecture, having various functions and used in both secular and religious contexts for 1,500 years, with the first instance apparently being developed in Gor (Firuzabad), Pars, in 210s AD by Ardashir I. The biggest instance of chahartaq is that of the so-called Palace of Shapur I at Bishapur, also in Pars. Many pre-Islamic chahartaqs have been survived, but they are usually just the sole surviving structure of a much bigger complex. The structure was adopted in Islamic architecture.^[2]

A related concept is čahārqāpū (چهارقاپو).^[2]

• 
  Chartaqi of Neyasar at Neyasar, Kashan, Iran. Late Arsacid
  or early Sassanian era. It is one of the few intact chartaqis.
• 
  Chahartaqi of Kheirabad, Sassanian period
• 
  Chahartaq in Sarab, East Azerbaijan Province. Sassanian period
• 
  Ateshgah of Baku. Many pre-Islamic chartaqis were part of a fire temple
• 
  Fire Temple of Amol
• 
  Bahram fire temple
• 
  Chartaqi of Karchan
• 
  Chahartaqi of Konarsiyah
• 
  Chartaq on top of the Harpak fire temple in Abyaneh
• 
  A chahartaq as a small mausoleum, with a grave inside, near Isfahan, 1840 drawing by Eugène Flandin
• 
  A chahartaq as a small mausoleum: Tomb of Sheikh Yusef Sarvestani, Fars Province
• 
  Sabil ablution fountain at Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Cairo, Egypt
• 
  "Kiosk-mosque" at Sultan Han caravanserai, Turkey (Seljuq period)
• 
  Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, Armenia
• 
  Part of the Hauz-i-Shamsi, a water storage reservoir built by Iltutmish of the Slave Dynasty in 1230

Contemporary architecture

The main plan of the Azadi Tower in Tehran is said to be influences by the architecture of chartaqis.^[3][4]

• 
  Azadi Tower
• 
  Monument of Molla Hossein Kashefi, Sabzevar, built in 1974.
  The post-modern design has incorporated the concepts
  of chahartaqi and iwans.
• 
  Scholars Pavilion (the Scholars Chartagi) in Vienna, a
  chahartaqi with elements from the architecture of Persepolis
• 
  A sample of modern Islamic architecture - The mosque of international conferences center - Isfahan

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chahartaqs.