The Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad

The Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran is a complex which contains the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shiites. It is the largest mosque in the world by area. Also contained within the complex are the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, a dining hall for pilgrims, vast prayer halls, and other buildings.

The complex is one of the tourism centers in Iran and has been described as “the heart of the Shia Iran “with 12 million Iranian and non-Iranian Shias visiting the shrine each year, according to a 2007 estimate. Every year the ceremony of Dust Clearing is celebrated in the Imam Reza shrine.

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