TEHRAN-- The Tarikhaneh Mosque, which was formerly a fire temple from the Sassanid period (224-- 651), is located in main Iran, close to the city of Damghan.According to some sources, consisting of ArchNet, a collaborative digital humanities project focusing on Islamic architecture, the Tarikhaneh is the oldest mosque still in operation in the nation.The monument, also called Tarik Khana, integrates Sassanian building methods with an uncomplicated Arab style.

A game lines the central yard, a single bay deep on all but the qibla side where it increases to three bays.The main aisle on the qibla game is broader and taller than the others, a kind that presciently suggests the later common significant axis of Persian architecture.The arcades, remembering Sassanian precedents, are formed of fired brick arches, elliptical and sometimes slightly pointed, and enormous circular brick piers.Standing together at a distance from the mosque are the remains of a square minaret of the uncertain date, perhaps part of the original building duration and a cylindrical minaret from the Seljuk duration (1060-1307).

The latter is noticeably divided into 6 zones of decoration.

Each rendered in brick with a various geometric pattern.The prayer hall of a mosque is where the abundant and bad, prominent and common people all stand and bow together in the very same rows.

Females may participate in the prayers, but they must occupy a different space or chamber in the mosque.

No statues, routine objects, or images are used in mosques.

The only designs allowed are inscriptions of Quranic verses and the names of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions.Iran is preparing to put forward Tarikhaneh as a candidate for inclusion in the cultural heritage list of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

The ancient city of Damghan was the winter capital of the Parthian kings.

Positioned about 350 kilometers northeast of Tehran, Damghan was once a flourishing city on the Silk Road that linked China to West Asia and Europe.Narratives say that Damghan was as soon as called the city by one hundred gates.

Later, during the reign of the Sassanids, the Umayyad, Abbasid, Taherid, Samanid, Sarbedaran, and Deylamite dynasties, Damghan had a significant position for the emirs and governors.AFM