Qadamgah ( fa, قدمگاه, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Qadamgāh) is a city in Central District, in

zeberkhan County Zeberkhan County ( fa, شهرستان زبرخان) is in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. The capital of the county is the city of Qadamgah. At the 2006 census, the region's population (as Zeberkhan District of Nishapur County Nishapur ...

, Razavi Khorasan Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 3,006, in 821 families. Qadamgah is a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

pilgrimage. It is historically part of the Greater Region of the city of

Nishapur Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...

. It is now legally a separated

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(shahrestan) though its people have daily commute and close ties and relatives with the main bigger city of Nishapur which is geographically close to it. Qadamgah used to be a part of the administrative county of Nishapur. As a result of Imam al-Rida (a.s)'s travel from Medina to Merv, in which he crossed a major part of Iran, there are many qadamgahs attributed to him. The best known qadamgah attributed to the ali al rida (a.s) is the one in Nishapur which was constructed at the command of Shah 'Abbas in 1020/1611 over the relics of another building. It is widely believed that there is a human footprint on a black stone installed inside the building which is attributed to Imam al-Rida (a). The majority of qadamgah attributed to Imam al-Rida (a.s) in Iran date back to the

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

era. At least one-tenth of the 250 qadamgahs in

which are attributed to a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, an

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, or a holy person are attributed to Imam al-Rida (a.s). The majority of qadamgahs attributed to him are located on his way from

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

(the so-called "Path of Wilaya"). However, there are qadamgahs attributed to him in other parts of

as well.

References

Commons Populated places in Nishapur County Cities in Razavi Khorasan Province {{Nishapur-geo-stub