By far the most dramatic of the three monuments is the magnificent mausoleum built for this Mongol sultan, now a Unesco World Heritage site. Almost 25m in diameter and 48m high it’s the world’s tallest brick dome. Inside, renovators’ scaffolding can’t hide the enormity of the enclosed space. A ground-floor exhibition illustrates the ongoing restoration process. Spiral stairs within the hugely thick walls lead up two floors to a terrace with panoramic views and fine stucco-work vaulting.
The building is named for its sponsor, Oljeitu Khodabandeh. Oljeitu changed religions as often as a film star changes spouses. During his Shiite phase, egged on by a favourite concubine, he had planned for the mausoleum to re-house the remains of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. That would have made it Shiite Islam’s holiest pilgrimage site outside Mecca (instead of Najaf, Iraq). However, Oljeitu couldn’t persuade the Najaf ulema to give him Ali’s relics and eventually he was buried here himself in 1317.
