Visiting Mashhad

Mashhad’s cultural scene is rich. Religious life is centered around the Holy Shrine at the burial site of Imam ʿAlī al-Riḍā. Annually, millions of pilgrims from not only the Shiite communities but also all around the Islamic World and at a global scale travel all the way to visit the shrine. Just outside Mashhad is the mausoleum of Abul-Qāsem Ferdowsi Tusi, or just Ferdowsi, (940–1020 AD), who was a Persian poet and the author of Shāhnāmeh (The Book of Kings), which is the national epic of Greater Persia and one of the world’s longest epic poems written by a single poet. With a population of over 3 million people, Mashhad is the second most populated city in Iran – after Tehran, the national capital. Tourists and pilgrims add to the number of people in the city, as do refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan. The city holds a magnificent sociocultural character with numerous museums, libraries, community centers, parks, traditional and modern restaurants, water sports centers, green suburbs, and a zoo. Having the Holy Shrine of the Imam Reza at its heart in a historical region forming the northeast province of Iran, Khorāsān, whose name signifies ‘the Land of the Sun,’ the city of Mashhad has long been the center of attention for multidisciplinary scholars and intellectuals from different Islamic societies.