Destruction of the Historical District of Qom

The author believes that the consistent composition of the Islamic era architecture of Qom faced substitutions or destructions during Pahlavi reign, which resulted in its estrangement and discontinuity. As an introduction, the article describes this modernization – that was undertaken during the Qajar reign under the title of innovation – and evidentially delineates these multiphase development changes, which included the establishment of rest areas, roads, and markets. The author elaborates on ten old neighborhoods of Qom in the past that now exist only in the history books, and shows their original span through the comparison of the new streets with those old neighborhoods. The article describes the destruction of the historical district of Qom during the Pahlavi reign using the state documents, globe trotters› accounts, oral history and elders› memories, the existing images and maps, and other evidences. Then it criticizes some of those development programs.