عباسعلی طایفی نصرآبادی

The present paper aims for the most part to prove the fact that religious and spiritual places and above all, mosques play major roles within Islamic urban areas. They are in fact the basis of civil infrastructures. A historical analysis focusing on where mosques stand in Islamic urban areas reveals that mosques have always been the center of development and growth and that they must be studied as a cultural and historical component of Islamic cities. The study also argues that considering mosques as works of architecture in isolation would be a far cry from reality. There are indisputable ties between mosques and historical –cultural developments in such cities.