A Mausoleum Was Originally Built Of A Very
Humble Nature, But, By Order Of Shah Abbas, It Was Enlarged And Richly
Ornamented Inside And Out.
Fatti-Ali-Shah and Abbas the Second are
both buried here; also the wife of Mahomet Shah, who died in 1873,
having had the dome of the mosque covered with gold.
There is a legend
among natives that Fatima's body no longer lies in the mosque, but was
carried bodily to heaven shortly after death.
The population of Koom, which now amounts to little more than between
ten and twelve thousand, was formerly much larger. Like many other
Persian cities - saving, perhaps, Teheran - it retains but little of
its greatness, either as regards art or commerce. The bazaar is,
notwithstanding, extensive and well supplied. Koom is noted for the
manufacture of a white porous earthenware, which is made into flasks
and bottles, some of beautiful design and workmanship.
The city is entered from the north by a substantial stone bridge,
spanning a swift but shallow river. It presents, at first sight, much
more the appearance of a Spanish or Moorish town than a Persian one.
The dirty brown mud huts are replaced by picturesque white houses,
with coloured domes, gaily striped awnings, and carved wooden
balconies overhanging the stream. Riding through the city gate, we
plunge from dazzling sunshine into the cool semi-darkness of the
bazaar, through which we ride for at least a quarter of an hour, when
a sudden turning brings us once more into daylight in the yard of a
huge caravanserai, crowded with mule and camel caravans.
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