The Green Mosque in Balkh stands over the grave of Khawaja Abu Nasr Parsa, a local teacher and mystic of the Naqshbandi order. The Timurid general Mir Mazid Arghun built it, with a madrasa beside it, between 1419 and 1421. The article names no architect and describes the style as Timurid. The Shaybanid governor Abdul-Mo'min renovated it in the late 16th century.
It takes its name from turquoise kashi tiles, known locally as Turkish Green. The very large main dome has a muqarnas base, eight openings that light it and sixteen windows at the rim of the vault. A crypt below holds a tomb suggested to be Parsa's. The two minarets on the porch are now reduced to bases and stumps.
The mosque was severely damaged during the Soviet-Afghan War and fell into major disrepair. An explosion inside in 2022 destroyed parts of it. It is listed as active, though partly ruinous.

Comments