Double-shell dome
Cúpula de doble casco
- Date
- 1067-1093 · confidence high
- Place
- Kharraqan Towers, Qazvin, Iran
- Credited to
- Seljuk architects
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Dome formed of two separate shells, an inner one and a taller outer one, which reduces weight and allows slender external profiles. It culminated in the dome of Soltaniyeh (1312) and the domes of Timurid and Safavid mosques.
The funerary towers of Kharraqan (1067 and 1093) are the earliest dated examples. The possible influence of Soltaniyeh on Brunelleschi's dome is a hypothesis without documentary proof.
What it led to
- dome of Soltaniyeh (1302-1312)
- Timurid domes of Samarkand and Safavid domes of Isfahan
- double-shell domes of the Renaissance