Influence of The Spatial Pattern of Historical Houses on the Physical Formation of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed at the Qajar Era of Ardabil

The Qajar Era is one of the most important periods of Ta’ziyah flourishing and attention has been paid to the construction of religious buildings such as Hoseiniyeh and Takaya in Iran. Ardabil has long been regarded as the origin of Shia and was considered as one of the major centers of ritual and religious activity in Iran. This study aims to identify and study the architecture of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed, which is one of the most important Hoseiniyehs in Iran in terms of architecture, antiquity and extent of construction and is the oldest north-west Hoseiniyeh of the country as well as the first and most designed Hoseiniyeh in Ardabil city. Along with the role of the Hoseiniyehs in the Ta’ziyah, the houses have also been influenced by religion and rituals from the beginning. In addition to Hoseiniyeh, this study examines the spatial patterns of a number of historical Qajar houses in Ardabil that have been influential in the physical formation of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed. The purpose of physical comparative study of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and historical houses of Ardabil is to answer the following questions: “How has the spatial and architectural pattern of houses affected the Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed model during Qajar era in Ardabil?” And “What are the similarities between the architectural aspect of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and the historic houses of Ardabil?” This research is a qualitative and analytical-descriptive one. After field studies and reviewing the documents and gathering information from Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and historical houses, the role of influential factors on the physical formation of Hoseiniyeh and houses was determined by introducing and examining the characteristics of each building and comparing a number of important indicators. And it was determined that the architectural style of Hosseiniyeh Mojtahed is influenced by the spatial pattern of historical houses in Ardabil and it was built based on the common architecture and architectural frameworks of the Qajar period.
Keywords: Spatial Patterns, Physical Structure, Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed of Ardabil, Historic Houses, Qajar Era.
Introduction
In the Qajar period, the most important event held in urban spaces, or the most important social event of that era, was the mourning rituals of the Muharram (Schoberl, 1828: 154; Porter, 1821). Ardabil has long been a oeigin of Shi’ism, and with the appellation of ‘Daral-ershad, Daral-aman, Dar al-erafan’, has attracted attention (Safari, 1991: 68), Therefore, it was considered as one of the most important centers of Iranian religion and ritual. Following these rituals, religious centers (mosques) and ritual centers (Hoseiniyehs) are closely linked to the urban context. So that the ritual pattern of the city is formed and intertwined with the mosques and six religious neighborhoods of the city. The religious ceremonies and mournings of Muharram and Safar are held in specific hierarchies in the mosques and throughout Ardabil city. In accordance with this pattern and the position of the mosques, the Hoseiniyehs of the city play a ritual and social role in the bystreets following this order and hierarchy, and in a very intense relationship with the context of the neighborhood, various ceremonies such as ta’ziyeh and oblation and vow are held. (Karamzadeh Shirazi & Motadayen, 2012: 2). In addition to the role of the Hoseiniyehs, houses have also been influenced by religion and rituals from the beginning. The construction of the house and its shape and spatial structure are strongly influenced by the culture it belongs to (Qasemi Sichani & Memarian, 2010: 90). In this study, among the religious buildings of Ardabil, Hosseinieh Mojtahed, which is one of the most important Hoseiniyehs in Iran in terms of architecture, antiquity and extent of construction (Karamzadeh Shirazi and Motadayen, 2016: 71) and is the first and most coherent designed Hoseiniyehs of Ardabil city, also a number of historical houses of Ardebil city that belonged to the period before or at the same time Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed, selected in terms of spatial and architectural pattern with Descriptive-analytical studies to compare the impact of spatial patterns of historical houses on the physical formation of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed in Ardabil.
The purpose of this study is to answer the question “What effect did the spatial and architectural pattern of historical houses have on the physical pattern of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed during the Qajar era in Ardabil?” and “What are the similarities between the architectural aspect of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and the historic houses of Ardabil?”
 
Identified Traces
Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed with its adjacent buildings is built on a land of 2660 square meters. The land has been a north-south rectangle. The Hoseiniyeh building has been built in two floors and includes different spaces (Karamzadeh Shirani and Motadayen, 2016: 75). Outdoors include the northern courtyard, the main courtyard of the mourning gathering, and a place for performing ta’ziyeh and Shabihkhani rituals. The enclosed space consisted of the main building of Hoseiniyeh and included various spaces such as a mirrored hall, living rooms, kitchens, a pantry, a tea house, a toilet. Semi-open spaces include porches around the central courtyard, a place for watching ta’ziyeh and Shabihkhani (Tehrani et al., 2013: 92). The culmination of Qajar architecture that shows its features is reflected in the architecture of the houses (Sichani and Memarian, 2010: 91). Based on the dominant religion in Ardabil, Islam and Shia, the culture and architecture of the houses in this city have been greatly influenced by this issue. historic houses of Ardabil during the Qajar era were filled with mourning and charity. Most of these houses were sponsored by clerics and scholars or by merchants and marketers in the city, who dedicated their homes to holding mourning ceremonies and Imam Hussein’s oblations. There are spaces such as the King’s Hall and living rooms, kitchens, porches around the courtyard, signifying the performance of the Ta’ziyeh, giving Hoseiniyeh’s use to the exterior of some homes which can induce spiritual aspects in Inside, they point out that the houses of Ardabil at Qajar era were the site of the mourning ceremonies. Identifying the architectural pattern of historic homes is based on a combination of three open, closed and semi-open patterns. Analyzes focus on those physical features of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and historical houses which mainly reflect the full impact of Qajar Ardabil historical houses’ spatial pattern on the Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed. In this regard, the general spatial physical features, such as the overall orientation of the building, introvert and extrovert architecture, plan pattern (outdoor and indoor), geometry and plan proportions, facade proportions, spatial communications, access hierarchy and external landscape in the body The architecture of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed and the houses of Mirftahi, Sadeghi and Khalilzadeh were compared and analyzed.
 
Conclusion
The initial premise of the research was that the architectural pattern of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed Ardabil was derived from historical houses in the Qajar era. The architectural pattern of ritual buildings such as Hoseiniyeh is an Iranian pattern that is influenced by its native architectural structure in each region. According to the analysis and studies, Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed is founded on the common architecture of the Qajar era, which is the framework of Qajar era architecture. Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed had a introvert architecture and its physical pattern were similar to the historical houses of Ardabil in the Qajar period. The presence of spaces such as the hall, the king and the living rooms, the kitchen, the porches around the courtyard indicate that the Qajar period houses of Ardabil were the site of mourning ceremonies. Subsequently, due to the expansion of these ceremonies and celebrations, homes have gradually expanded and individuals’ homes have become Hoseiniyeh, or a number of Hoseiniyehs have been independently influenced by the architecture of the houses from the beginning, Designed for mourning ceremonies. This can also be seen in the architectural spaces shared between the Hoseiniyehs and the historical houses of the Qajar period in Ardabil. Therefore, in this study the architectural pattern of Hoseiniyeh Mojtahed is in the traditional style of Qajar era and is influenced by the spatial pattern of historical houses in Ardabil.