Gallery
Description
Property Name: Khoja Abu Nasr Parsa Mosque & Shrine
Inventory No: 93-50-1
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2008-06-19
Country (State party): Afghanistan
Province: Balkh
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 36° 45′ 28″ N
66° 53′ 53″ E
Historic Period: 15th century, 2nd half
Year of Construction: 1460-1598
Style: Timurid
Original Use: Mosque, Mausoleum
Current Use: Mosque, Mausoleum
Architect: Unknown
Significance
This monument built in the late Timurid style, with its blue, fluted dome resting on stalactite corbels supported by an octagonal base decorated with colored tiles, contains the tomb of the Naqshbandi leader Khoja Abu Nasr Parsa. The towering portal frame is also decorated with colored tiles and has cabled columns with bulbous bases and two-leveled porches on the sides.
Selection Criteria
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
The building had been restored in 1970s however today the monument’s both structure and decoration are in a very bad condition. The monument was last restored between 1974 – 1975. Today, however, is not given the necessary attention to this structure.
References
“Shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa”. Website of Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage (SPACH). http://spach.info/ephotosbalkhkhwajaparsa.htm. [Accessed August 19, 2005; inaccessible September 27, 2013]
Byron, Robert. “The Shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa at Balkh.” Bulletin of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology IV, no. 1 (1935): 12-14.