The construction of the Atigh Jame Mosque dates back to the Saffarid dynasty and it is known as the most ancient mosque in Shiraz city. There are two other mosques, one in Tehran and another in Isfahan, both of which have the same name as this mosque, namely Atigh. The excavations in the archeological sites of this mosque indicate that, even before the construction of the mosque, this site used to be a temple; but as a result of the restrictions in the possibility of further excavations, it is not clear that the temple belonged to which dynasty.
Atigh Jame Mosque is special for containing the “Khodaye-Khaneh” structure (the house of God in Persian), which is located in the middle of the mosque. [Khodaye-Khaneh or Dar-o’Moshaf, in Persian architecture, is a square construction used for announcing Adhan (the Islamic call of worship) and for other worshipping acts.]
Khodaye-Khaneh looks a lot like Kaaba in Mecca and it was named as Khodaye-Khaneh because copies of the Holy Quran written by Imam Ali, Imam Hassan, Imam al-Sadeq, one of Rashidun Caliphs and some of the companies of the prophet were found there, some of which are nowadays kept in Pars museum. Other parts of Atigh Jame Mosque consist of the Nodbeh wall with its beautiful tiles, Davazdah Imam door including Muqarnas and four epigraphs of the Safavid dynasty, and the beautiful vault of Morvarid.
The ancient people have strange beliefs about the mosque, for instance, they believed that the walking stick of Moses which turned into a dragon, was under the Khodaye-Khaneh building or they believed in the descension of Jesus in Atigh Jame Mosque accompanied by two heavenly angels both of which were never proved to be right.
Atigh Jame Mosque is surrounded by many tourist attractions such as the holy shrine of Shah Cheragh, Nasir al-Mulk Mosque, Qavam, and Zinat Al-Molk House, Khan school, and Vakil Mosque.
