Bazaars of Mashhad

Mashhad has three bazaars. The biggest, the two storied Bazaar-e Reza (or Bazaar-e Bozorg), is 800 m long, 30 m wide, and one of the main shopping centres in the town. The crafts of Khorassan are all represented in the bazaar. All kinds of local souvenirs such as fur-cloak, turquoise, Carnelian ring, gold, perfume, saffron, pelisse, prayer-mat, and rosary may be found here besides a myriad of foreign articles. There are several escalators in the Bazaar, which take the visitors to the second floor. The bazaar has two gates: one in Bayt ol-Moqaddas Square and the other in the 17th Shahrivar Square. The next shopping centre is called Sara-ye Bazaar-e Reza, where products such as embroidery, knitwear, shoes, etc, are sold. The third bazaar, called the Kuwaiti Bazaar, is situated in the 17th Shahrivar Square, where various categories of products are sold. Make sure also to visit a workshop where turquoises from the Neishabur mines are cut and polished. Bazaar is open 8 am to 8 p.m., SaturDay to ThursDay. The remains of several old caravansaries, now put to other purposes, can be seen. Postal services are provided at both ends of Bazaar-e Reza during the office hours.



Certain other shopping centers are scattered in the town: 1) Zist-e Khavar Business Centre, in Dr Shari'ati Square (Kuh Sangui) affiliate with Bank-e Tejarat, and in building considered the most attractive and the most spectacular shopping centre in the Middle East; and 2) Shops along Ahmad Abad Ave, Jannat Ave, Daneshgah Ave, and Modarres Ave.

 

The Nader Shah Mausoleum
The Nader Shah Mausoleum (in Shohada Street, beginning of Azadi Street) is a curious piece of architecture completed in 1959, consisting in a heavy slab of concrete which forms a crypt and of a colossal bronze group representing soldiers led to battle by a sort of an equestrian commander on horseback (5 meters high and weighing 14,000 kilograms) bearing a turban and a large ax (Nader Shah). Designed by the late Iranian sculptor Abolhassan Sadiqi (1897-1995, a follower of the Master Painter Kamal ol-Molk) and built in Italy by an Italian sculptor named Bruni, the composition does not lack movement. The crypt shelters the tomb of Nader Shah, who made Mashhad his capital and operational base for his campaign against India. A small museum and a library have been set up nearby: Nader Shah souvenirs, mainly 18th and 19th century weapons, helmets and armor (altogether 130 pieces, from Afshar period), and prehistoric bronze objects unearthed during excavations in the region. It is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 to 4:30 p.m., except Friday. Tel: (051) 24888.