The project of repairing the golden bricks of the porch of Najaf has been defined in three phases: The first phase was the restoration of the southern section and its minaret, and now the second phase of the project is underway. The third and final phase of the project includes the central part, the entrance gate and the head door of the porch. According to this plan, the damaged copper bricks of the holy shrine of Alavi, which were covered and installed by the goldsmiths at the time of the reign of Nader Shah , have been restored by Iranians experts after centuries. The required gold needed for this project is provided by the custodian of Imam Ali shrine through efforts of Iraqi donors
Mohammad Karimi, director of the artistic and industrial unit of HOROSH, stated during the unveiling ceremony that the project was implemented on the basis of the newest technology and state of the art methods.he said that due to conflicts In recent years, some of the bricks have been damged badly, which were hardly restored.
He also added: A technical and sophisticated process including annealing, slicking work, glazing, molding, welding and … was carried out. After polishing and furbishing, each brick was plated with about 10 microns of nickeland was gilded with 10 microns of gold in an area of 290 square meters.
He said that the project took over 7000 man-hours work during last 1.5 years. “The number of repaired bricks in the south minaret is over 4,000. The muezzin room ( a special Place where a man calls people for prayer) was also fully restored.
During the ceremony, Yusuf Sheikh Razi, the custodian of Imam Ali ahrine, stated in praise of executive managers: The project of rapairing southern minaret of the porch of Najaf was implemented without disrupting the pilgrimage process.