Tari Khaneh

Tarikhaneh is a former Friday mosque in the city of Damghan, in Iran's Semnan Province. It follows the plan of a classical Arab courtyard mosque and combines it with local Sasanian architectural forms and building techniques. The building dates to the second half of the 8th century and is counted among the earliest surviving examples of Abbasid architecture. It is cited as an early appearance of the pointed arch used as a functional structural element, while its oval arches and massive columns show Sasanian influence. Its cylindrical minaret belongs to a later period. The mosque is listed as an Iranian national heritage site and is regarded as the oldest surviving mosque in Iran built after the Islamic conquest.

According to the sources, the mosque was built in the second half of the 8th century, in the early Abbasid period. Together with the roughly contemporary fortress of Ukhaydir, it is considered one of the key surviving witnesses of early Abbasid architecture.

The original minaret may have collapsed in the earthquake that struck Damghan in the 9th century. The cylindrical minaret standing today was built between 1026 and 1029 to replace it, and is counted among the oldest cylindrical minarets in Iran.