AzarakhshFire Temple (Stone Mosque)

Approximately five kilometers southeast of Darab city, on the foothills of the wide mountains of Pahna, there exists a fascinating structure with a cruciform (cross-shaped) plan that is now known as the Stone Mosque. Some researchers believe that this structure was originally one of the important temples of the ancient Arya Mehr worshippers, which was converted into a fire temple during the Sasanian period. In the Atabeg Period (652 AH), a mihrab was added to this fire temple, and thereafter, this structure was converted into a mosque. The area of the structure is about 420 square meters and is entirely carved out of the mountain. Part of the structure's ceiling is open, and beneath it, there is a shallow pool with short, circular-roofed corridors around it. Outside the structure, a small room is built into the mountain, which was probably the residence of the fire temple's guardian. The architecture of the structure has a cruciform courtyard, surrounded by arcades with arches, columns, and vaulted openings. The covering of the four arms of the cruciform courtyard is made in the form of a conical dome, but the central covering is cut square and provides an open space, under which and in the middle of the hall, a shallow four-sided pool is made. The longest part of the structure is the east-west length, which starts from the entrance gate. The entrances to it are placed on the southeast side, and its distance from the beginning of the entrance gate to the northwest end is 20 meters. Two other sides of the mosque in the southwest and northeast sections are about 18 meters long. It appears that the construction of the structure started by carving the mountain down from the top of the skylight gradually transforming into a well with a square plan while going down. Then, the Ivans of the mosque were carved from the four sides of the walls of well. It could temporally reduce the completion date to a quarter. There are two inscriptions in the building, one above the entrance to the place and the other around the mihrab, which are taken from Quranic verses. Dating back to the Atabeg Period, the upper inscription is illegible, and the lower one shows the date of 652, reading: "By the order of Abu al-Mozaffer Abu Bakr Atabeg, in the month of Ramadan, the mihrab was built in the year 652 AH." Forsat al-Dawlah Shirazi has also depicted part of the mosque, which includes the inner part of the Stone Mosque. The inscriptions around the mihrab are carved in Kufic script and are susceptible to an irreversible erosion. Although this structure dates back to ancient times and its construction dates back to the Sasanian period, it now has a completely Islamic appearance and cannot be recognized as ancient at first glance.