User:Samantha.yahner282/Imamzadeh Yahya

Article Draft by: Samantha Yahner
The Imamzadeh Yahya is the tomb of a sixth-generation descendant of Hasan ibn Ali. This Imamzadeh was built in southern Varamin, Iran during the Ilkhanateperiod between 1260 and 1310. It had multiple patrons including Fakhr al-Din, the local ruler of the Ray province when Varamin had been its capital. Fakhr al-Din was the protegé of the fourth Ilkhanate ruler Arghun Khan and invested heavily in the Imamzadeh, as he also shared heritage with Hasan ibn Ali. The tomb was constructed using extravagant, valuable materials and incorporates architectural elements that facilitate worship. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, tiles from the Imamzadeh Yahya were looted, and many are located today in museums around the world. Local residents and tourists pray at the site and use the courtyard as an event space. Following new developments to meet the physical needs of the cities, building streets, introduction of new materials, the arrival of architects educated in the West, and the lifestyle changes after the 60's in twentieth-century Iran, this process accelerated, leaving historic contexts at the heart of cities. The old city plazas, which were a place for citizens to gather, interact and create memories and urban identity, were replaced by parking lots. As such, the integrity and uniformity of the homebuilding system were undermined within the organic and balanced context of historic cities.

The geography of Varamin, Tehran Iran
The neighborhood, Imamzadeh Yahya, is important because it is located within the historical heart of Tehran, and also, because it is a residential neighborhood the inhabitants of which can play a significant role in its preservation and enhancing its identity. The neighborhood is very important as one of the sub-districts of Oudlajan as well as one of the five neighborhoods of Safavid Tehran.On the other hand, its identity is decaying at a very fast pace. About 60 percent of its buildings require destruction and renovation, and defining the architectural approach to them can help to overcome some of its contextual identity challenges. This has lead to historical accounts describing the monuments as a grand entrance portal with arcades leading to a mosque and an octagonal tower with a conical roof. The octagonal tower, thought to be built before the Seljuk period, had flat interior niches and contained a blue plaster mihrab. The portal and arcades were built during the period of Seljuk rule but no longer exist. The identity of cities depends on the three human, natural and artificial factors.

Today, the site can reached off the Varamin-Tehran highway and the tomb enclosure is entered on the northern side. The exterior of the Imamzadeh is rectangular with a domed roof, enclosed by a low brick wall. Features of open urban spaces, particularly central spaces such as plaza situated at the core of historic city, are directly related to rising selected activity and definition of access route networks. Nowadays, the erosion and destruction of historical fabric of Tehran including Tehran Bazar and Imamzade Yahya (because of their significant role in developing the historical paths in the city and making a new perspective) is a big threat to eradicate its sustainability.The case study of Imamzade Yahya that is a historical area in Tehran. And it is located in west of Abshahr, east of Arg and northeast of Bazaar.The Imamzadeh itself is a 13th marvel topped by a deep turquoise cone, and visiting the shrine offers insight into the role of religious spaces in contemporary Iranian life. That is chosen for its physical appearance as both historic and contemporary architectural elements, its Space identity, its land use patterns and heritage context, as well as all other physical-visual identities. At the entrance of the tomb is a neo-Safavid style portal accented with tiles in shades of blue and orange. This portal was added after the Iranian Revolution and includes calligraphy across the top that announces the site as the “Holy Shrine of Emamzadeh Yahya.” Every neighborhood and its daily need makes some symbols which causes some attachment for its inhabitants, so that every person is known with his/her neighborhood name. Lynch believes that a neighborhood with identity is one which is distinguished to other neighborhoods network of historic passages and the alignment with the new conditions and requirements are especially confirmed. After passing through the portal, one arrives in a cemetery filled with tombstones that stand parallel to the qibla. Apart from the main entrance portal, there is a southern gate to the site that is approached from the neighborhood street.

The interior tomb is octagonal and formed with bricks. It was once decorated with painted stucco as well as luster tiles, highly prized mediums of the time that required valuable materials and cultivated skill to produce. The stucco decoration, which is still extant, includes text that wraps around the wall at the viewer’s eye level. It begins with the Qur’an 62:1–4, “glorifying God, His Messenger, and His Sacred Word,” includes the date, Muharram 707 (July 1307), and concludes with a hadith. Symbols in fact, refer to that aspect of city identity which is equal to human identity. Symbols are information which our eyes receive form outer world and these receiving influences his perception of environment. Regarding what we said, we conclude that sustainability and its components leads to identity survival and sustainability and richness.This text frames the original location of the tomb’s luster mihrab on the qibla wall, which once was decorated with 50-60 handmade tiles. These tiles were commissioned from master ceramicists in Kashan between 1262 and 1305, who produced them for other features of the shrine such as the dado and cenotaph. The tiles were produced in a variety of shapes to decoratively fill the interior wall space, utilizing interlocking “star and cross” forms along the dado.

A cenotaph stands in the center of the chamber and is surrounded by a silver and gold zarih. Green fabric is attached to the zarih and divides the space on the right and left for men and women respectively. The luster cover for the cenotaph was created with the most expensive glazed ceramic of the time.

Looting
The occurrence of all kinds of social anomalies in the dilapidated tissues of Tehran metropolis has become a very important concern for city managers. The dilapidated fabric of the city of Tehran is 3268 hectares, which is about 5% of the area of ​​the city of Tehran, and District 12, which is the historical core, is one of the most dilapidated urban areas of Tehran. The statistical population of the current study includes criminals for whom cases have been filed in Tehran police stations, and as a statistical sample, 560 cases of crimes in the 12th district of Tehran municipality have been examined. The findings show that the center of concentration of crime-prone centers has been formed in the central, northeastern and northwestern parts of the 12th district of Tehran, which shows the unfavorable situation of this sector in terms of crime compared to other parts of it. The highest percentage of crimes occurred in blocks with 40-60, 60-80, and 80-100% unsustainability. So that out of the total of 560 crimes committed, 509 cases, equivalent to 87.69% of all crimes. The Imamzadeh Yahya has been looted over the last 100 years and the tiles are now spread throughout the world in museums. For example, a set of 160 tiles from the tomb is now in the British Museum, another set is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and tiles from the gravestone are now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

As of 2020, historian Dr. Keelan Overton suggests, the tiles are spread around the world in 30 museums, in cities such as Doha, St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, London, Oxford, Paris, Glasgow, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and probably even Tehran. Looting is common in many Middle Eastern sacred sites and occurred in the 19th and early 20th century and into the present. Scholar Tomoko Masuya details the looting surrounding the Middle East as occurring in two parts. She asserts that many Persian tiles such as the ones at Imamzadeh Yahya were stolen from 1862/63-1875 and 1881-1900. According to Masuya, the tiles from Imamzadeh Yahya were stolen during the first phase of 1862/63-1875 where they were systematically removed and sold throughout Europe and the United States. Although some pieces still survive today, for example, the Mihrab from the shrine of luster tiles is at the Shrine Museum in Mashhad.

Presently, the qibla in the Imamzadeh Yahya is without a mihrab. The tiles are currently on display at the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design in Honolulu. The mihrab includes a depressed central panel crowned with stucco trefoil arches above a cursive inscription panel. The trefoil arches are surrounded by a cursive band. Surrounding these panels are pilasters in high relief that support a gabled arch. The pilasters are adorned with helical floral designs in blue and white, and there are calligraphic inscriptions along the gables of the arch. Within the portals of the trefoil arch and gabled arch, as well as in their spandrels are red, white, black, and blue arabesque designs. There are calligraphic inscription columns on both sides of these panels, which are themselves bordered by another set of pilasters supporting a gabled arch. The whole composition is enclosed in calligraphic inscriptions with a stylized floral edge.

Present use of tomb
Local residents actively pray at the Imamzadeh Yahya, and an attendant of the tomb is present to greet visitors. Worshippers who visit the tomb interact with the zarih by touching it, kissing it, praying against it, offering money through the holes in the screen, and adorning it. Shi’a believers regard Imamzadeh Yahya’s personality as resonant in the tomb, meaning that prayers performed in the space are likely to yield positive outcomes. This reputation has attracted the attendance of many Afghan immigrants who have moved to Varamin.

Visitors have added and maintained additional decorations to the space. Fairy lights and garlands hang on the walls. The cenotaph holds a mirror, candlesticks, and a Quran. Visitors place paper bills around the floor. Textile elements such as carpets and pillows decorate the space and serve a functional use for visitors. Also present are filled bookshelves, mirrors, framed artwork, and flowers. Prayer stones made with sacred soil of Karbala are available for Shi’a prayer. One’s forehead must touch these stones as they prostrate themselves.

The large, pale indent in the wall where the mihrab once stood is often adorned by printed and drawn signs made by local visitors. Some are tilted right to indicate the direction of Mecca, or explain in text that worshippers should angle themselves twenty degrees. Another sign describes the genealogy of Imamzadeh Yahya. On either side of the void is a collage of four images that includes views of the entire complex and photographs of the tomb’s tiles on display. However, during holidays like Ashura, these hangings may be substituted with relevant banners and decorations.

The Imamzadeh Yahya is regarded as the most important Imamzadeh in Varamin county and has been the focus of renovation within the past few years alongside many other urban shrines. The courtyard is used commonly by locals as park space for picnics, and some visit the graves of family members who have been buried there. It is also used as a general event space. Varamin officials have made efforts to promote the site’s historical significance, which appeals to locals as well as tourists. In 2015, the Imamzadeh was a pilgrimage destination for the observance of Arbaeen.

References:
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 * 9) ^ Doris Duke's Shangri La : a house in paradise : architecture, landscape and Islamic art. Thomas Mellins, Donald Albrecht, Deborah Pope, Linda Komaroff, Tim Street-Porter, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. New York. 2012. ISBN  978-0-8478-3895-0 . OCLC 783166340.
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 * 12) Lynch, K., The image of the city. Vol. 11: MIT press. (1960).
 * 13) Parvizi, Elham. "Collective memory as a measure to evaluate the infill architecture innovations in historic contexts (Case study: Historic context of imamzadeh yahya in tehran)." Iran University of Science & Technology 30.1 (2020): 66-75.
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