Mongol Political Interactions With Europeans and Their Effect on the High Entrances of Iranian Buildings in the Iilkhani Period and European Gothic Architecture

The Mongols began construction after the invasion of Iran and the initial destruction. The Mongols did not have a particular architectural style, and most were tent dwellers. They created simple temporary buildings but paid much attention to science and were diligent and active in developing the sciences and architecture. Their architecture was in continuation of the architecture of the past, but with a higher height at the entrance. The Mongols had almost no religion and were not fanatical about other religions. The Europeans, who were at war with the Muslims of the East, were able to start new relations with the Mongols. The beginning of cultural and economic relations between Iran and Europe was formed during this period. Political relations improved and trade between the Iilkhani and the Europeans flourished. The peaceful relations established with other countries during this period led to cultural progress and, as a result, its transfer to the East and the West. One of these measures was the establishment of the Rashidi robe, which has transmitted the thoughts and sciences of many Islamic and Eastern scholars to Europe through Andalusia. This period coincided with the period of European Gothic architecture. Its main feature is the height of construction. Furthermore, some scholars believe that patriarchal architecture is a model of European Gothic architecture. Therefore, by examining and comparing two cases of Iilkhani mosques )Varamin Grand Mosque and Natanz Grand Mosque( with two cases of Gothic churches: Salisbury Church and Sainte-Chapelle Church ). In this comparison, first, the appearance factors such as scale, number, color, and type of decorations were examined, and then, the esoteric factors, such as the shape of the entrance and its location, were compared. At this point, we conducted a comparative study with a qualitative comparative comparison method which studied the influence of Gothic architecture on the entrance architecture of Iilkhani mosques. The factors compared included the number of primary and secondary entrances, types of entrance geometry, the entrance angle relative to the geographic north, the type of view to the space after the entrance, the color and material of the decorations, the geometric dimensions of the entrance, and the location of the entrance concerning the side walls of the building. We examined the role of cultural interactions between Mongols and Europeans, studied the entrances of mosques and churches, compared the subscriptions, and differentiated indicators. We observed that contrary to the researchers' perceptions, the architectural interaction has not been effective, especially in the formation of the entrance of the building. Moreover, the theory of building elevation is still valid due to the creation of urban symbols and Thiol structure.