Qom
قمA city of pilgrimage and learning, built around the shrine of Fatima Masumeh on the edge of the central desert.
Qom grew around the shrine of Fatima Masumeh, sister of the eighth Shia Imam, who died here in the ninth century. Under the Safavids it became one of the holiest cities of Shia Iran.
In the twentieth century its seminaries made it a centre of religious scholarship. To the east lies the salt lake of Daryacheh-ye Namak, on the edge of the Dasht-e Kavir.
Cities and towns
Qomقم
The shrine city and seat of the seminaries
Landmarksبناها و نشانهها
Shrine of Fatima Masumeh
حرم حضرت معصومهThe golden-domed shrine at the heart of the city
Qom through time
Iranian historyThe Arab conquest and the Persian revivalفتح اعراب و احیای زبان فارسی
Islam reached Iran with the Arab armies of the 7th century. Persian survived, took on a new script and, under dynasties such as the Samanids, returned as one of the great literary languages of the world.
- Fatima Masumeh traditionally dies in Qom
Poets of Qomشاعران
Parvin E'tesami
پروین اعتصامیThe most celebrated woman poet of early modern Iran, whose debate poems give voice to the poor, the orphaned and the overlooked.
Stories from hereداستانها
The city workshops
City carpets are woven to a drawn design, in workshops, by many hands. Each city has its own handwriting.