Zūzan

Zuzan was a flourishing town of eastern Khorasan, whose ancient walls and citadel overlooked a cultivated oasis. Its most imposing monument is the great Malek Zuzan mosque-madrasa, begun under the Khwarazmshahs. Two vast opposing iwans rise from the site, their brickwork combined with turquoise tile and inscriptions. Beneath them lie remains of an older Seljuk mosque, showing the long development of religious building in the town.

An inscription dates the great monument to 1219, just before the Mongol invasions. Its scale reflects the ambition of the local ruler who sponsored it, although the building may never have been completed. In 1336 two strong earthquakes struck the Zuzan district and ruined the town and nearby Jizd. The towering iwans remained among the most striking traces of the prosperous city that had once occupied the plain.