Process of Turning Two Fire Temples into a Mosque in Izadkhast and Estakhr Based on Existing Historical Evidence and Sources

The construction of religious structures holds a particular place in the various branches of architecture. Upon the rise of Islam in Iran and the resulting changes in the ruling system and rituals, the functions and usage of buildings changed. Fars Province is one of the important regions in Iran which greatly benefitted from the arrival of Islam, and the Muslims living there employed many of the useful recommendations of Shar’ and the intellect in different aspects of their life. For example, they used the structure of fire temples to construct mosques and create a place for the gathering of Muslims. The present paper is intended to examine and analyze the process of changing the fire temples of Izadkhast and Estakhr into mosques during the early Islamic centuries in Fars with an emphasis on the architectural structure of the mosques and based on archeological proofs and documented evidence. This study was conducted following the descriptive-analytic and field methods. The required data were collected from library sources and also through field-based observation and investigation and use of maps and croquis. The results of this study indicate that the two mosques were the products of changing the functions of fire temples. Nevertheless, the space of the original structures underwent some qualitative and essential changes based on monotheistic beliefs. In fact, in the light of a minimum of physical alterations, a number of important qualitative changes were made to them in line with Islamic principles and beliefs. For example, the fire and hearth were removed from the center of the inner space of the building, and the Qibla angle was covered with a wall and the symbol of Qibla. Moreover, in order to make the spaces under the square domes more internal and exclude the attention to the outside, portals, porches, left-side corridors, inner yards, doors, and external walls were added to the main buildings,the main axes of whichwere in the direction of Qibla.