This is a unique, partly ruined mud-brick structure with 18 extraordinarily sturdy rear columns that date from about AD 760. That reputedly makes this the second-oldest mosque in Iran, possibly having started life as a Zoroastrian palace-temple. The broken columns and partly renovated arches of a colonnaded courtyard are similarly massive and undecorated. But in striking contrast, the 30m-high AD 1038 brick minaret is very finely detailed. Now slightly leaning, it’s within the yard of a new mosque next door.
