Imam Reza’s (PBUH) holy shrine is the biggest, most important and prominent religious center of Iran that consists of the most features of Persian-Islamic architecture that many pilgrims from Iran and all around the world go to this place every year.
Imam Reza’s (PBUH) holy body buried in the Hamid Ebn Ghahbe garden beside the grave of Abbasid Khalife Harun with the martyrdom of Imam Reza in 203 AH in Tous and in fact, the first building of this holy shrine was the Harun Alrashid monument then the new holy shrine established on that wall and Tous changed to Mashhad-Al-Reza. Shrine means a square place which consists of the holy monument such as dome, shrine’s stone, holy shrine.
The Imam Reza’s holy shrine is a complex of Shrine, dome, finial, Ravagh, Bast, courtyards, porches, mosques, Saqakhaneh which are the most worthwhile of architectural decoration. Also, Astane Qods Razavi is a complex of holy shrine, systems, institutions, cultural, industrials, agricultural and therapeutic institutions which it’s administrative and management relied on pilgrims vows and endowments.
Within the complex you will also find a library, a museum, prayer halls, a cemetery, a dining hall for pilgrims, four seminaries, the Goharshad Mosque, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences and so on.
The Imam Reza complex is a popular tourism center in Iran. The shrine covers an area of 267,079 sq.m. The shrine is surrounded by seven courtyards: Sahn Inqilab (Revolution Courtyard), Sahn Azadi (Freedom Courtyard), Sahn Goharshad Mosque, Sahn Jumhuri Islami (Islamic Republic Courtyard), Sahn Gadeer, Sahn Quds, Sahn Jameh Razavi (The Razavi Grand Courtyard) and Sahn Imam Khomeini.
You can participate in the ceremony of Dust Clearing every year, which is celebrated in the shrine of Imam Reza.