Hamam Mahdi Gholi Beik

The Shah Bath or Mehdi Qoli Bek Bath is one of the old baths that was built and dedicated in 1027 AH in one of the neighborhoods adjacent to the Holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS). The famous Shah Bath is one of the oldest and most valuable baths in Iran, located near the holy shrine and in the vicinity of the tomb of Amir Malek Shah. This bath, located next to the Shah Mosque and the Sarsang Reservoir and the Sarshur Bazaar, has formed an urban complex.
The architecture and decorations used in this bath can be considered among the good works of the Safavid period and after it. A building whose architecture and decorations have been admired by everyone for many years. The ceiling of the Mehdi Qoli Bek Bath has murals fr om different periods. Because murals were not very popular in Iran, a building similar to this building has a special value due to the number of layers of paintings that have been painted on top of each other over time.
This building has undergone changes in different periods according to the needs and tastes of the bathhouse owner, and these additions and additions have directly or indirectly affected the decorations of the ceiling.

History of the Shah Bath (Hamam Mehdi Qoli Beik)

The Mahdi Qoli Bek Bath, which was known as the Shah Bath in its time, is located on the western side of the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) next to the tomb of Amir Ghiyath al-Din Malek Shah (in the Sarsang neighborhood). The old structure of the building is a bathhouse that was dedicated to Quds Razavi Province in 1027 AH by Mehdi Qoli Bek Mir Akhorbashi Safavi.
There is no information about the architect and builder of the Shah Bathhouse. The building of the Mahdi Qoli Bek Bathhouse underwent changes over time and due to unprincipled interventions, such as adding a women's section to the old section in 1350, and lost its original appearance.
This bathhouse was active until 1367 and was used as a public bathhouse for men and women, but it gradually became abandoned fr om 1369 until it was finally registered in the list of national monuments in 1376, and in 1378, by order of the Quds Razavi Province trusteeship, its reconstruction began.
This historical monument, which is also known as the Shah Bath, the 72-person Bath, the Razavi Bath, and the Mehdi Qoli Bey Bath, was for years a ruin filled with dirt and garbage, and after it was registered in the country's national and historical monuments list, its restoration and reconstruction were put on the agenda.
The restoration and reconstruction of this valuable work of art took nearly seven years, and in the end, from a dilapidated building in a remote corner, a masterpiece of the Safavid era was reborn. The Mehdi Qoli Bey Bath, with an area of 1,875 square meters, is one of the largest baths in the country, which displays the very beautiful structure of old baths. Finally, this bath was inaugurated in December 2006, coinciding with the birth of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (AS), as an anthropological museum.

The current location of the Shah Bath (Mehdi Qoli Beik Bath)

According to the renovation and reconstruction plan of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS), all the buildings around this building have been demolished and turned into the compound of the Baha'i Sheikh. Mehdi Qoli Beg Bath is currently located between the two entrances of Bab al-Jawad from Andarzgoo Street and Ghadir from Shirazi Street. It is located in the vicinity of the bazaar, mosque, and holy shrine.

Architectural Features (Mehdi Qoli Beik Bath)

The Shah Bath building consists of an entrance and a corridor behind it, a spire, a hot tub, and related spaces.
Its spire is square in shape, with its vaulted and domed covering in the middle resting on four pairs of columns, and has sitting and dressing rooms around it, and in the middle of this area, an octagonal pond presents a pleasant view.
The plan of this area is square, 22 meters long and 19.3 meters wide, with a total area of 426.6 square meters.
In the spire of Mehdi Qoli Beg Bath, there are three stalls for dressing and storing clothes for the common people and a royal residence for the nobility, with the floors of the stalls being higher than the level of the dressing room.
The columns are made of stone and are located 175 meters apart.
After the renovation, the area of the bath reached 1875 square meters.
The main building of the Shah's bath is located in the basement, which was built in the past for easy access to water (aqueduct), to be warm, and not to be in direct view of people.
Currently, the entrance area of the bath is connected by several steps with a gentle curve to a small vestibule, which is connected to the Sarbineh by passing 5 steps with the same curve, which has the most beautiful part.

Decorations of the Shah Bath (Hammam Mehdi Qoli Beik)

Painting

Includes ceiling paintings, tiling, carving, plasterwork, and stone columns. The ceiling of the Shah Bath is the only part of the bath wh ere decorations are visible. Several (4-5) layers of unpainted plaster with a thickness of 3 to 5 cm were used in the ceiling of the bath, and 13 layers of painting were applied under the plaster, and in some places 8 layers of painting were obtained.
The ceiling paintings of the Qoli Bek Bath are of special value due to the number of layers of painting that were applied on top of each other in different periods. This bath has undergone changes in different eras according to needs and tastes, and these additions and additions have directly or indirectly affected the decorations of the ceiling of the bath.
The subject of the paintings in this building is mostly mythological and epic themes, stories that have been known fr om generation to generation in various ways among the people of the alley and the market and are unforgettable. Stories are taken from ancient literature, beliefs and beliefs of the people of this land. These types of stories have been valuable and important among the general public to the extent that from the Safavid period onwards, their painting on the walls of public and recreational places such as coffee houses and baths became common.

In general, the themes of the carvings and paintings of the Shah Bath can be divided into 4 categories:
1- Epic and martial themes
2- Story and mythological themes (Bazmi)
3- Decorative carvings and flowers and plants
4- Topics related to the cultural and social conditions of the society
Paintings of characters from the Shahnameh (Gisiyabanu, Shiroviyeh and Sarhang, Faramarz son of Rostam) are among the spectacular arts of the Mehdi Qoli Beg Bath.
Paintings of characters from the military story (Shirin and Farhad, Bahram Gour and Konizak) are among the masterpieces of the Shah Bath.
Folk tales and legends are some of the images related to famous and popular romantic and instructive stories that have been welcomed and paid attention to by Iranians since the distant past.
In the western part of the ceiling, the image of Ouj bin Anq, a legendary figure from the time of Prophet Moses (PBUH), can be seen.
The story of Amir Arsalan and Farrokh Lagha is one of the beautiful and religious images of the Shah Bath. The illustrated patterns in the middle parts of the ceiling show the old conditions and conditions of the city of Mashhad. Part of the image is of Koohsangi Street, wh ere a traveler is sitting in one of the carriages around Koohsangi and is having fun.
One of these paintings shows the execution field of Mashhad in the past, wh ere the executed were executed in this area of the city in public.
At the junction of two arches and on the shoulders of the arches in the middle vestibule of the bath, the attributes of God Almighty are written around the vestibule.
Above the mentioned inscriptions, images of the constellations of the months and probably the ceremonies that were customary in those months are circled around the hasti, so that the beginning of the hasti begins in the month of Farvardin and ends in the month of Esfand.
The painting of a warrior who is doing a lunge and doing an ancient sport and another athlete is showing respect and the manner of a warrior (the way his hands are placed on his knees as a sign of respect and the form of his standing confirms this) in the Shah's Bath shows attention to the social status of that time.

Karbandi

The karbandi consist of strips or arches whose intersections form the skeleton of the roof covering. The first example of karbandi can be seen in the tomb of Amir Ismail Samani in Bukhara and the old Jame Atiq Mosque in Shiraz in the third century AH. The karbandi in the Shah's Bath are similar to their examples in the baths of the Safavid era (Ganjali Khan Bath in Kerman, Khosrow Agha and Ali Qoli Agha Bath in Isfahan, and Vakil Bath in Shiraz). There is a Karbandi in the ceilings of the Sarbineh and the hothouse.

Tiling

Tile was used in the joinery of the Sarbineh and the hothouse, mainly in the plinths. These tiles are seven-colored tiles in green with yellow and black designs on them. In addition to decoration, the use of tiles was used as a moisture-proof layer, which caused the erosion process of the beams and foundations to be removed.
During the restoration and restoration operation, the tiles were completely restored like the original and placed in the plinth of the Sarbineh of the Shah's Bath. All the tiles used in the plinth of the building are all new and of the white square type belonging to the Pahlavi period.

Final words

Various murals from the Qajar era remain in public places such as baths, an example of which can be seen in the Shah Bath of Mashhad. The Mehdi Qoli Beg Bath has gradually fallen into disuse and abandonment since 1369 AH and was included in the list of historical monuments of the country on 5/2/1367 with registration number 1374.
The Shah Bath has traditional architectural elements such as the vestibule, meander, sarbineh, treasury, etc., and out of the 28 historical layers of sarbineh, 13 layers have images; murals with themes of Iranian myths and the Shahnameh, in the domed part of the sarbineh of the Mehdi Qoli Beg Bath, images from the Qajar era can be seen, which were painted completely under the influence of the atmosphere of that era.
This building has suffered a lot of damage over time and due to the destructive effects of factors such as unprincipled interference and lack of constant care, and in 1378 AH, its restoration was started by the Technical Assistant of Astan Quds Razavi.