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 (1996 est) 777,700. 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.