Showing 1-7 of 7 results
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Emarat-e Badgir
The recently restored Emarat-e Badgir was first erected in the reign of Fath Ali Shah. The interior has typically ostentatious mirror work and is worth a quick look, though upstairs no longer seems to be open.
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Green Palace
At the uphill end of the complex, the more classical-looking Green Palace was built at the end of the Qajar era and extensively remodelled by the Pahlavis. Shah Reza lived here for only a year and apparently found the bed, if not the mirror stalactites on the ceiling, a little too soft. It was later used as a private reception hall (upstairs) and residence (downstairs) for special guests.
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Ivan-e Takht-e Marmar
The Ivan-e Takht-e Marmar is a mirrored, open-fronted audience hall dominated by a magnificent throne. The throne is supported by human figures and constructed from 65 pieces of yellow alabaster from mines in Yazd. It was made in the early 1800s for Fath Ali Shah, a monarch who managed a staggering (and quite likely very tiring) 200-odd wives and 170 offspring. This hall was used on ceremonial occasions, including the Napoleon-style self-coronation of Reza Shah in 1925.
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Madraseh va Masjed-e Sepahsalar
The Madraseh va Masjed-e Sepahsalar, at the eastern end of Jomhuri-ye Eslami Ave, is one of the most noteworthy examples of Persian architecture of its period, as well as one of the largest. Built between 1878 and 1890, it's famous for its multiple minarets and poetry inscribed in several ancient scripts in the tiling. It still operates as an Islamic college and is usually open to male members of the public on Fridays only.
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Shams-Al Emarat
Shams-Al Emarat, at the end of the garden, is an imposing structure and was the tallest palace of its day, designed to blend European and Persian architectural traditions. Born of Nasser al-Din Shah's desire to have a palace that afforded him a panoramic view of the city, it was designed by master architect Moayer al-Mamalek and built between 1865 and 1867. A sequence of mirrored and tiled rooms display a collection of photographs, together with furniture and vases given to the shahs by European monarchs, especially the French.
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US Den of Espionage
More than any other single building in Iran, the former US embassy in Tehran (and the events emanating from it) have had a dramatic and profound influence on the recent history of this country and, indeed, the whole Middle East. From a bunker beneath the embassy building at the junction of Taleqani Ave and Mofatteh St, CIA operatives orchestrated a coup d'etat in 1953 that brought down the government of Mohammad Mossadegh.
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White Palace
What is now called the White Palace was built between 1931 and 1936 and served as the Pahlavi summer residence. The two bronze boots outside are all that remain of a giant statue of Reza Shah - he got the chop after the revolution.
Showing 1-7 of 7 results
