In Iran you find mosaics basically everywhere. The ones that fascinate me the most were those glittering mirrored mosaics. When I visited Shah-e-Cheragh Shrine, they told me that I couldn’t enter the mirror pray room. Then they recommended me to the oldest shrine (for the relative of 8th Imam) in Shiraz.
The staff Fariborz is super friendly, before entering the mirrored room, I was invited to have tea and cookie in the tourism office. The staff explained a lot of Islamic culture to me, including all the most famous architectures to visit in the Islamic world. It was quite educative for me since I didn’t know that much Islamic culture. In the end he even gave me some postcards as souvenir.
The shrine wasn’t that big compared to Shah-e-Cheragh Shrine. There are many graves in the courtyard. The day I visited was Death of Prophet Mohammad day, many came to offer flowers in the yard.
Just like most shrines, to enter, you also need to wear chador to enter Ali Ibn Hamzeh shrine. You can choose one you like at the entrance. As I entered the mirror pray room, all I could say is “wow”. The interior was absolutely striking, with small pieces of mirror tiles covering the entire wall and domed ceiling.
In the shrine, men and women have entrance independently, but as visitor, I was luckily enough being allowed to visit both rooms. Inside the shrine, you can feel that it is very much the lively center of the religious community in Shiraz. The shrine itself is just stunning and spiritual and it can really make you feel relaxed and laid back.
Here are some more details of interiors:
The beauty of the mirror mosaics and the effect were simply too eye-catching. Pictures cannot do it justice, as I only had my phone with me and flash wasn’t allowed.
今天我想说说设拉子的Ali Ibn Hamze圣祠。在设拉子有好几个圣祠，为什么说这个呢？因为那天我在最著名的灯王之墓，由于非穆斯林不允许进入那里的镜面大厅，那里的工作人员介绍我来这个小型的圣祠，里面有一样的镜面可以看，结果完全不虚此行。
Ali Ibn Hamze圣祠葬有八伊玛目宗的亲戚。跟灯王之墓一样，环绕在墓碑四周，用各色的小块镜面马赛克装饰了整个圣祠内部墙面和圆顶。这些都是工作人员Fariborz告诉我的。圣祠是免费入场，首先我被邀请进去喝茶（所以非穆斯林的外国人应该都会被邀请），Fariborz长居马来西亚做伊朗旅游宣传，一年就三个月在设拉子，他很热情的准备了茶和糕点，一边介绍了各种穆斯林文化，我告诉他我对建筑很感兴趣，他还告诉我一些其他穆斯林国家的重要建筑。在我离开圣祠的时候还送了纪念品，还顺便给我推荐了设拉子附近好吃的餐厅，这服务真是太好了！
进入圣祠需要穿上Chador，在入口处可以自行挑选。这里的祈祷室分为男女两部分，由墓碑作为分隔。作为参观者，我可以去分别参观男女两个祈祷厅。虽然跟灯王之墓相比，这个圣祠小很多，但是更像当地祈祷者的中心，当天是伊斯兰的节日，很多人来这里祈祷，可以感受到那种很神圣的氛围。
虽然在伊朗看了很多各种颜色风格的马赛克艺术，最让我惊艳的还是这个镜面马赛克。以前还从来没有看到过这么闪亮的内部装饰，真是可以说是“亮瞎了”。我一进去就很满脑子都在说“Wow”。因为我也就手机拍照，内部不允许用闪光灯，所以图片可能无法展示到底有多惊艳。绿色和景色为主调，灯光在镜面的反射下，移动的每一步都可以感受到各种闪烁，总之无法用言语形容。
