Monar Jonban in Iran (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
Visiting the tomb inside (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
Love sometimes wants to do us a great favor:
hold us upside down and shake all the nonsense out…
— Hafiz
I’m mad for minarets–especially ones that shake. When I was traveling in Iran, I visited Monar Jonban in Isfehan–where the minarets are shaken every hour. These unusual minarets rest upon a 14th century shrine containing the burial of Amu Abdollah Soqla, a Sufi hermit about whom not much is known. When one of the minarets is shaken, the other one shakes too–a phenomenon known in physics as coupled oscillation.
Before exploring the minarets, my friend and I stopped to take photos of the lush garden surrounding the shrine. Because we were the only ones there, we also had plenty of time to marvel at the impressive brick work and blue tiles decorating the interior of this medieval Sufi tomb. Since it’s difficult for me to describe the ecstatic movement of the “shaking” minarets, you can watch them dance for yourself in the video below.
Exploring Iran (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
