*** Welcome to piglix ***

Chahartaq (architecture)

Niasar Fire Temple.jpg ChaharTaqi-KheirAbad Darafsh (4).jpg
Mausoleum of Kashefi 01.jpg Persian Scholar pavilion in Viena UN (Rhazes&Khayyam).jpg
Clockwise, from top left:

Chartaq (Persian: چارطاق‎‎), chahartaq (چهارطاق), chartaqi (چارطاقی), or chahartaqi (چهارطاقی), literally meaning "four arches", is an architectural unit consisted of four barrel vaults and a dome. It was a prominent element in Iranian architecture, having various functions and used in both secular and religious contexts for 1,500 years, with the first instance apparently being developed in Gor (Firuzabad), Pars, in 210s AD by Ardashir I. The biggest instance of chahartaq is that of the so-called Palace of Shapur I at Bishapur. Many pre-Islamic chahartaqs have been survived, but they are usually just the sole surviving structure of a much bigger complex. The structure was adopted in Islamic architecture of Persia.

A related concept is čahārqāpū (چهارقاپو).

Chahartaq in Sarab, East Azerbaijan Province. Sassanian period

Chartaqi of Karchan

Chahartaqi of Konarsiyah

Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, Armenia


...
Wikipedia

...