A Criticism of Iran’s Religious- Ritual Places : an Analytical Perspective Focusing on Historical background

Available evidence shows that religious-ritual places, textures, and sanctums have been subject to attention, respect, and sanctification of religious groups of society and those who preserve religious codes, particularly in Iran, and generally in other societies. Referring to the history of architecture in different societies, with no exaggeration, we face one of the richest, liveliest, and most exciting reflections of architecture, creative and aesthetic taste, and artistic soul in relation to society and the human world in Iran. From this historical perspective, it can frankly be argued that Iran is one of the most significant, richest, and oldest centers of ritual-religious architecture in the history and culture. Most wonderful, in a time when ritual places in many societies are turned in to museum or have lost their ritual popularity and force as well as effective and attractive sacred power, ritual places in Iran still continue to actively affect millions of visitors. This research does not aim at exploring, criticizing, analyzing, and defining these places, their structure, texture, space and religious-ritual sanctum in the geography of Iranian world from historical, philosophical, and architectural history. The aim of this research is to provide a concise Figture and not a very detailed and deep analysis, but a short description and introduction of some religious-ritual buildings and structures in recent Iran. , To this end, the relation of these buildings and structures with the concept of identity–not as the common and recent understanding of it, but as the reflection of a world of values and believes – is considered. This is a cultural understanding of being in the world and a style of life; a treasure of common heritage and spiritual wealth running in our soul. This embodies our understanding of religious-ritual architecture and its relation to identity; an architecture which is in strong affiliation with our other civilizational and spiritual heritage.