Monar-Jonban (Shaking Minarets)

Isfahan's westernmost landmark is the most famous shaking minaret in the world. The only existing date in Monār-Jonbān (Shaking Minarets) is the one inscribed on the gravestone of Amu Abdollah Karladani. As the inscription on the gravestone shows, Amu Abdollah was a Sufi sage, who died in 1315. He used to live near his tomb which was a village called Karladan. The minarets were added to the tomb in the early 18th century (the last days of the Safavid dynasty). After adding the shaking minarets, the tomb of Amu Abdollah Karladani functioned as the porch ( ayvan) of the whole monument.

The architectural style of the monument is known as the Mongolian style, that is, the style prevalent in the Iran of the 13th and 14th centuries. Dark blue tiles, in the form of four-pointed stars, alternating with turquoise polygons, decorate the two domes, and the surrounding space of the porch (ayvan). 

The name of the building is derived from its shaking minarets which are the most interesting part of the ensemble. Every time one of the 17-meter-long minarets of the monument is shaken, the other minaret, and then the whole building, begin to shake, in a manner visible to the naked human eye. One reason for this phenomenon or mystery is the narrowness, and so, the lightness of the minarets. Another reason is the 3 cm gap which exists between the stem and the main construction of the minarets. Also, some square-shaped wooden frames are used in the body of the minarets which function as flexible supports, letting them shake from side to side with no damage done to the structure. This U-shaped structure, like a tuning fork, bears the kinetic load and stand firm and upright after each time.