Ardabīl

Ardabil lies on a high plain beneath Mount Sabalan, a place of markets, pasture and pilgrimage in eastern Azerbaijan. Its most celebrated monument is the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din, founder of the Safaviya Sufi order. Around his tomb grew a complex of courtyards, domed chambers and richly decorated rooms, a sanctuary closely bound to the dynasty that took his name. Its buildings served many purposes, with a school, kitchens and a hospital alongside the places of worship and burial. The approach to the shrine passed through successive gateways and courtyards.

Safi al-Din died in 1334, and craftsmen built a shrine around the house of their spiritual guide. His descendants transformed the order into a militant movement, drawing Turkmen followers from Anatolia and Syria. His grandson's descendants included Ismail, who took Tabriz and proclaimed himself shah in 1501, founding the Safavid dynasty. Ardabil remained its ancestral shrine even after the centre of government moved elsewhere.

Successive rulers endowed and enlarged the complex. Shah Abbas I enriched its library and in 1611 gave a collection of Chinese porcelain to the shrine. The tomb of Shah Ismail himself joined those of the order's leaders here, making Ardabil a place where royal memory and Sufi devotion met. The shrine also held endowments that supported its institutions and the pilgrims who came to honour the family.