The construction of this mosque in the first half of the 11^th century AH, in 1602 AD and started by order of Shah Abbas I and ended in 1619 AD. The construction of this mosque took eighteen years.

It is said that the architect of this mosque was Master Mohammad Reza Isfahani, the son of Master Hossein Bana Isfahani. This mosque was built on the ruins of a mosque that was there. Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque owes its name to one of the great scholars of the Safavid era, Sheikh Lotfollah Jabal Ameli. He was a Lebanese who, like Sheikh Baha’i and a few other scholars, emigrated from Lebanon to Iran through Shah Abbas and settled first in Mashhad and Qazvin and then in Isfahan.

Because the Safavid government was a religious government and valued Islam, especially the Shia religion, it also had a great deal of respect for its scholars. Therefore, a mosque and a school bearing his name were built in the place of residence of the sheikh, where he taught religion classes. This mosque is one of the most beautiful historical monuments in Isfahan, located on the east side of Naghsh Jahan Square, opposite Aali Ghapo mansion.