The Semantics Process of the Compound Building of Alishāh Ark in Tabrīz; an Analysis of Historical Data

Most of socio-cultural and even political concepts and meanings in historical monuments have formed after the creation of them and in the process of audience communication with those artifacts, influenced and hide in many cases. Therefore, in order to study the process of semantics in Alisha Ark of Tabriz from the time of its construction in the Il-khanate period to the present time has been used descriptive-analytical approach and semiotic methods. The question is how the meanings of Ark have transformed based on surrounding context and elements of the Compound Building. The results indicate that during the Il-khanate period, the Compound Building of Alishāh was a representation of the main foundations of government, including: political power (palaces), religious power (the grand mosque and monastery) and economic power (the main part of market). In the Timurid period, its semiosis criterion was modified and divided with other monuments (the Compound Building of Mozaffariyih and the Compound Building of Sāhib-Ābbād). During the Safavid period, the original context of the ark changed and the architectural elements became a virtual representation of military power. In the Qajar period, it became a symbol of national efforts and in Pahlavi period, it was a manifestation of tradition and modernity. In the period after the Islamic Revolution, the Ark has been made both recontextualization (construction of a large musallā instead of the first Il-khanate mosque in the northern part of Ark) and has found a museum and tourism function.