Qom
Dome and minarets of a mosque in Qom, Iran. Qom is a holy city of the Shiite branch of Islam and an important place of pilgrimage. The gold-domed mosque was built in the 17th century as a shrine over the tomb of Fatima, the sister of the imam.
Holy city of Shiite Muslims, in central Iran, 145 km/90 mi south of Tehran on the Qom River; population (2006) 959,100. Pottery, textiles, shoes, and glass are the main industries. The Islamic academy of Madresseh Faizieh in 1920 became the headquarters of Ayatollah Khomeini.
| Qom contains the shrine of Fatima (died 816), the sister of the 6th Imam, Ali-Ar-Reza, and is a noted place of pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims. The town is a routeway centre, where roads connecting Tehran with southern Iran divide, and sits on the railway connecting Tehran with the Gulf and with Kerman. |
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