Abstract :
The sanctuary of Shaykh ʿAdī, the only monumental complex of the
Yezidis, lies at Lalish, 35 kilometres north of Mosul, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
It is dedicated to its founder, Shaykh ʿAdī (d. 1162). Although it has
been suggested that it was converted from a Christian monastery, Arabic
sources and architectural analysis indicate that it may originally have
been the zāwiya where Shaykh ʿAdī and his disciples retired to meditate.
After his death, the sanctuary grew up around his tomb and became a
centre of pilgrimage. It is a large complex containing buildings of different
sizes and functions. It was not conceived as a centrally planned structure
and its different parts were added progressively as and when circumstances
dictated. The dominant architectural style is derived from that which
characterizes the twelfth–thirteenth-century Shiite buildings of Mosul,
and was continued by the Yezidis until the present day.
