Situation of Jameh Mosques and Their Relationship with Other Important Spaces in Historical Cities

Introduction
The Jameh mosque in the past was the most important religious place in the Islamic cities, because it was the place of holding Friday prayer, as one of the most important sacremany in social and religious aspect. Other daily prayers were held in the same mosques, and some other social and religious ceremonies were held in the Jameh mosque such as some educational and judgement activity in a limited conditions. In these situations, the jameh mosque was the most important building in Islamic cities.
The first Jameh mosque in the new Islamic cities were built near the governmental building (Daralemareh), but in the later centuries in some big cities, they were built in bazaars and the governmental building were built in the citadels. The situation of the Jameh mosque in the city and the other important buildings and spaces are the main question of this research.
 
Methodology
The main objective of this research is to identify the situation of Jameh mosque in Islamic historical cities. The main data, at first are based upon the plans that were drawn by architects or historians and at the second level the data are based upon the historical reports written by historians. Methodology of this research has been based upon deseriptive and analytical methods. At the same time, the historical- interpretation method is used, because the research is about the historical buildings in the past periods.
The samples are selected from some cities in the Islamic world. Many of documents are gathered in documentary method and simultaneously some data were gathered by field study on the situation of Jameh mosques in cities such as Naeen, Tehran, Qazvin and Isfahan, and Dephi. Independent variable is the culture and the characteristics of the mosques and the dependent variable is the situation of the Jameh mosque and its relation with other buildings and important urban spaces.
 
 
Results and Discussion
It is obvious that some relations between Jameh mosque and other important spaces such as bazzar (Market) are seen in many historical cities that we can see them at present. On the other hand, there are some exceptions that the location of the mosques in these cities are shaped accidentally, but it is difficult to imagine that one of the most important space in Islamic cities- Jame mosque-, could be located accidentally in urban fabric. However, the results of this research shows that there are several patterns and relations between Friday mosque and the other important urban elements that were dependent on some factors such as the political situation of a city, the historical period that Friday mosque was built, and the characteristic pattern and elements of a city.
Therefore, there were not only one pattern for location of a Jameh mosque in historical cities, and there were also several patterns in the relations between the physical environment of a mosque and the buildings adjacent to the mosque.
The survey shows that there was a relative clear pattern about the shape and location of Jameh mosque in relation with the other important elements and buildings in a city, particularly in the new primary cities where most of them had a military function, i.e., Kofe, Basreh, and Cairo. In these cities, the Jameh mosque was built near the governmental buildings that it was called, Daralemareh, because there was a strong relation between governmental affairs and religious activity. The rulers wanted to show this relation very much in the first decades and centuries, but for a few reasons at the later centuries, some governmental centers were built in a citadel that were sometimes far from the city centre and Friday mosque
 
Conclusion
The situation and level of the Friday mosque in relation to its surrounding areas were different. Most of the mosques were at the same level that the other buildings were in the urban texture, while in some periods and in a few countries, the important mosques were built in a higher platform. For example, the Jame Mosque of Delhi was built by Shah Jahan, in a level higher than the adjacent areas. It seems this pattern was used in India because there were some separated and distinct buildings in the middle of a vast and large site. These kinds of buildings were seen from surrounding areas, on the other hand, somebody can say that people from these buildings can see the surrounding areas, as every body in the Jame mosque of Delhi can see the site and buildings located surrounding the mosque. The Jame mosque of Delhi has three entrances in the middle of each side and they are seen from adjacent sites and the plan of these mosques were regular and the outer surface had no pretty outer facades. However, some of the mosques as Jame mosque or Friday mosque in the Isfahan were located in the middle of an urban fabric. This is because it is located in the middle of an urban texture, and their facades can not be seen from distance, and they have only a pretty portal gate and some other important elements.
We can say that the situation of a mosque in relation with the adjacent buildings and site can influence the general form and style of the mosques. Many of the mosques were adhered to the surrounding buildings, while in some others; there were a distance between mosque and the other buildings.