Although it was repeatedly reported in the media that critics’ visit to the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque was unrestricted, this possibility had not been provided since November 2019. Until a few days ago, when the chief supervisor of the second phase of the restoration of the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah accepted ISNA’s request for critics to visit Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque.
With the start of the second phase of the restoration of the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah by the same former contractor, critics who had not resolved their ambiguities about the restoration of the previous crack and were worried about repeating the same process for the next crack gathered at the Isfahan Handicrafts Artists Union and signed a letter.
Addressing the representatives of the people of Isfahan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, as well as the judicial authority, they demanded that the restoration be stopped until the dark dimensions of the case are clarified and the general situation of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is examined by experts.
On Thursday, July 7, Gholamreza Enayati, Houshang Rassam and Ali Dastanpour, tiling and mosaic artists, along with Farimah Hoshyar and Mohsen Afshar, restorers of historical monuments, as well as Mehdi Jafari, Chairman of the Aria Foundation for Culture, History, and Civilization, and Abbas Shirdel, president of the Isfahan Handicrafts Artists’ Union, gathered in front of the entrance of the Mosque to finally see the condition of the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah with the ISNA newsgroup.
By being present in the area of Naghsh Jahan Square, they have taken photos to examine the condition of the dome, and the criticisms have not been and are not baseless. In the same photos of the dome of Sheikh Lotfollah, it is clear that the distance between the tiles is large and the maps are not paired.