The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Revising the Problem of the Transverse Vault of the Arch of Alishah in Tabriz

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2025.506793.5765
Volume 22, Issue 151
January 2026
Pages 47-58
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Pedram Safiri 1
Farhad Akhoundi 1
Bahram Ajorloo 2

1 Department of Architectural Technology, Faculty of Architecture & Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Cultural Materials Conservation, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: The Arch of Alishah is the only surviving part of the Taj al-Din Alishah Tabrizi’s Mosque complex. Although Mustawfi’s report and Matrakchi and Grelot’s paintings of Alishah Mosque indicate the presence of a brick transverse vault, an ahistorical approach to architectural studies has claimed it as a Safavid structure without a vault. This argues that hive technique walls could never bear the weight of an arch. This is contrary to the ruin of a brick vault, reported by Mustawfi, and can be seen in Matrakchi and Grelot’s painting, which was documented during the 1971 archaeological excavations.
Research objective: The conservation plan of the Arch of Alishah uses the results of technical analyses of the type and dimensions of its transverse vault.
Research method: This research has three methods: history, field measuring, and structural technical calculations, which were carried out in three stages: In the field phase, the structure of Arch of Tabriz was technically surveyed using a 3D laser scanner, and in the third phase, the data from the previous two phases were modeled and analyzed using Revit and Diana FEA software using two linear and nonlinear static analysis methods.
Conclusion: The left and right walls of the Arch of Alishah were indeed able to bear the weight of a large and tall arch with a span of 28. 4 m at the arch’s springs and to restrain its tensile and compressive stresses, and these stresses were not the main cause of its collapse. Certainly, the Arch of Tabriz still had a pointed arch until 1721. Such a pointed arch, with a height of 58. 25 m from the floor of the building and 28. 25 m from its springs, was the tallest and largest arch in the history of Iranian architecture, the Islamic lands, and the pre-modern times as well.

Keywords

The Arch of Alishah in Tabriz
Pointed arch
Parabolic arch
Linear static analysis
Nonlinear static analysis.
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