'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎522] (585/714)

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PERSIA
fallen in; and but few relics survive of the departed splendour-
although these are sufficient to have drawn from a competent ob
server the remark that the Mosque of the Sunnis, as he calls it
from the tradition that it was raised in the days when the Sunni
was the national faith, is the ' chef-d'oeuvre of Persian, and, per
haps, of all Oriental architecture.' 1 The other relic is the Ark or
Citadel, in the south-west part of the city, originally built bv Ali
Shah, and which once contained a magnificent mosque within its
walls. It was converted into an arsenal in the first quarter of
this century by Abbas Mirza, who employed a large number of
English workmen ; and here, in July 1850, was shot the Bab, or
founder of the Babi heresy. A solid mass of masonry 120 feet high,
and with walls twenty-five feet thick at the base, towers above the
city, and is a relic of the ancient structure. Faithless wives used
to be hurled down from its summit; but this method of execution
was abandoned when one of these ladies, sustained by her inflated
petticoats as by a parachute, descended unharmed on to terra firma.
The palace of the Vali-Ahd, or Heir Apparent, is the most
elegant modern building in the city. The Europeans live in the
European Armenian quarter. Here are the residences of the
quarter Turkish, Russian, and British Consul-Generals, the last
named having a charming and spacious house, a great contrast to
the quarters in which I left him before his transfer from Meshed.
! ranee also maintains a Consul at Tabriz, whose business it is to
foster such trade as she may possess, and to supervise the interests
of the Catholic Nestorians whom she has taken under her protection.
r I here was once a Belgian Consul; but a sinecure so complete
could only end in withdrawal. As I have said, the interior of the
town possesses no distinction : the houses are low, the lanes narrow
and dirty; and size and business alone demonstrate the existence
of a capital. Considering that it is the second city in the kingdom,
the residence of the heir to the throne, and the seat of great
wealth, and that there are in the neighbourhood abundance of the
most beautiful marbles and building materials, it is surprising, in
spite of the earthquakes, that more effort has not been made to
embellish Tabriz. An inner wall encircles the building of the Ark,
and a double outer wall, in no sort of repair, surrounds the city.
' Ch. Texier, Description dc VArvienie, vol. i. This work contains a series
ol superb plates, Nos. 42-52 of which are devoted to plans, designs, restora
tions, and coloured sections of the Blue Mosque.