Ayneh Khaneh Museum of Bojnurd

Mofakham Ayneh Khaneh (literary meaning the mirror house) or Mofakham Commander Dar al-Hokmah is a Qajar building in the north of Bojnurd which was constructed in 1250 S.H, at the same time as the rule of Naser al-Din Shah, by Yar Mohammad Khan Shadloo, known also as Sardar (commander) Mofakham. The aim of construction was to provide a place for his headquarter which was carried out in the form of a two-storey building with 2000m2 built-up area. It is famous that designing the plan of this place was conducted by Mirza Mahdi Khanshaghaghi (Momtahen al-Dole), the first Iranian architectural engineer who had been graduated from architecture collage of Paris.

The building materials used here are brick, sand, lime and plaster along with the stone which was served in the foundation in order to consider all architecture principles. In addition, Russian wood was used vertically and horizontally for increasing the stability of the building. Ayneh Khaneh has been separated from Dar al-Hokmah complex through a small green space, flowers, fences and hedges. the building has a free plan in which the geometric system and symmetry have been completely considered along with being inspired by the western architecture including the usage of Cuerda Seca tiles used in decorating the building. three tiling technics including Cuerda Seca, arabesque and Ma’qeli were used in the façade of Ayneh Khaneh. It has three entrances in the north, west and east sides all are ended in the corridor of the first floor, among which the main entrance is the northern one. This famous building along with other constructions such as pavilion and springhouse have been placed in a big garden all of which constitutes the Mofakham Dar al-Hokmah. This place became an administrative and courtly room where Commander Mofakham and other Qajar political men met together in military formalities and political counseling. Mofakham mansion has 32 rooms and two halls with mirror works, tile works, and beautiful stuccos one of which is among the unique masterpieces of Naser al-Din Shah period.

Mofakham mirror house (mirror hall) which is currently used as the museum of manuscripts and documents is the main axis of this building located in the second floor. One can access this section through two eastern and western stairways which have been placed at the end of the corridor of the first floor. The room includes three doors made of sandalwood bejeweled by the bone. The lower parts of the wall have been decorated by high-quality marble stones and the upper parts totally covered by mirror works. seventeen different geometric and floral patterns along with the motif of a candelabrum hung from the ceiling have been masterfully applied in the inner and outer parts.  photos of approximately 134 political and famous men of Safavid and Qajar rules have been installed, inside the glass frames, around the upper parts on the wall. In addition, 13 calligraphy tableaus written in Nastaliq and Shekasteh Nastaliq (literary meaning Broken Nastaliq) scripts have been similarly installed on the wall of the southern side of the hall. These frames were removed from their place after the restoration operations and they are now kept in the museum treasury. Some Quranic verses have been professionally written and illuminated in these tableaus; the sign of “Raqem Abd ol-Ali 1226 A.H.” is recognizable in one case. The name of Ayneh Khaneh Hall is driven from the same mirror hall.