Mashhad is one of the cities of Khorasan Razavi province, which is located in northeastern Iran. This city was the capital of Iran during the Afshari era and is currently the second-largest city in Iran after Tehran. The Imam Reza shrine, one of the top religious sites of Iran is a complex that contains the mausoleum of Imam Reza (Imam Ali bin Mousa al-Reza (PBUH)), the eighth Imam of Shiites, is of the progeny of Prophet Muhammad and his eighth successor.
The first building of the tomb was the tomb of Harun Al-Rasheed in 387 AH, which was built by Ma’mun Abbasi on which the rest of the shrine was built. Taking into account the area of all pilgrimage and non-pilgrimage sections, the total area of Imam Reza shrine is more than one million square meters and has a capacity of 700,000 people.
Opportunities and Drivers of Pilgrimage
