سید مهدی حسینی نیا

Ali shah Mosque in Tabriz is one of the remaining buildings from the Ilkhanid period in the region of Azerbaijan in Iran. In his torical documents, this building is mentioned with different names such as citadel and mosque. Despite the research done on this building, researchers s till have disagreements regarding architectural specifications. In this research, based on archaeological and architectural evidence, the authors seek to answer the following basic ques tions in the manner of field s tudies and libraries, which are based on descriptive-his torical and analytical-comparative, how are the architectural features of this building represented by the texts of his torical documents? How is the porch connected to the tomb? Also, what is the relationship between Ali shah Citadel and the school of the two minarets of the Erzurum in terms of physical and trinity elements? The following hypotheses are raised: according to the results, the pillar behind the altar is originally the tomb of Alisha. The main altar was located inside it and had a green dome with skylights. The way to reach this tomb and the altar were from the s tairs leading to the porch. After the huge columns on either side of it, which may have been turned into a minaret, space has become smaller with an indentation. The school and monas tery were connected to its wes tern and eas tern sides. This general form of composite buildings in a complex is a feature of mos t buildings of this period. Other results of this s tudy show that the model of the mosque-school of the Erzurum is derived from this building, which shows the cultural connections between the two regions.

The brick ornamentation in Islamic architecture represents the unique skill of the architectural artists and we have seen the perfection of this kind of art during the Seljuk period. There is little information about the process of developing brick art in the architecture of Islamic mosque in Iran, and it has not yet been dealt with as it is worthy of this precious art. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out further research in this regard due to its importance in Iranian architecture. In this research, through library studies and with a descriptive-analytical approach, the trend of development of bricks ornament in the architecture of the Islamic mosques of Iran from the beginning to the end of the Ilkhan era, as well as the causes of importance and development to the bricks of the Seljuk period were studied. The brickwork decoration in the Islamic architecture of Iran gradually begins from the third century A.H. Generally speaking, the early Islamic centuries can be considered as the formation and development of brickwork ornamentation, which reaches its peak in the Seljuk era, thus the richest brick-making projects develops in this era, because during this period, artists managed to create numerous works and structures with the element due to the calm and stability of the Seljuk territory. After this period, bricklaying works continued during the Kharazmshahi era in the Khorasan area, and in the course of the Ilkhani period, its development was reduced and other techniques such as acrography and tiling were popularized.