The Museum of the Qasr Prison ( fa, موزه زندان قصر ''muze-ye zendān-e qasr'') is a historical complex in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
Formerly referred to as the Qasr Prison ( ''zendān-e qasr'', "Mansion prison"), it was one of the oldest political prisons in Iran, which is now a museum complex surrounded by a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
.
History
Qasr was originally built in 1790 as
a palace with extensive gardens of which nothing but the names remain, in the reign of
Fath-ali Shah
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلىشاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...
of the
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
.
In 1929 it was repurposed as a prison, the first modern detention center in the country,
in which prisoners had legal rights.
Nikolai Markov, a Georgian architect who settled in Iran after the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, did the rebuild, combining urban industrial design with traditional Iranian features such as
adobe bricks, which became known as Markovian bricks.
It had 192 rooms for 700 prisoners, of which about 100 cells were solitary.
Here
Ahmad Ahmadi
Ahmad Ahmadi (; 1885–1944), known as ''Pezeshk Ahmadi'' meaning Physician Ahmadi, was born in Mashhad to Mohammad Ali Ahmadi. He worked as a nurse at Qasr prison in Tehran, where he was ordered to kill political prisoners; he was later execut ...
, known to prisoners simply as “Dr Ahmadi” administered lethal
air injections to several of
Reza Shah
Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...
's many opponents, such as the poet
Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi
Mirza Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi ( fa, میرزا محمد فرخی یزدی; 1889 – October 18, 1939), also known as Taj osh-Sho'arā (تاج الشعرا), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian poet, journalist and senior politician of the Persian Con ...
. After Reza Shah was overthrown by the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, Ahmadi himself was tried for the murders and executed in 1943.
For
Mohammad Reza Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...
, it served as a torture and execution chamber for extreme political crimes which by the late 1970s was extensively reformed by the Red Cross into what was described a “hotel” by the staff. In its cells
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
,
Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
,
Morteza Motahhari
Morteza Motahhari ( fa, مرتضی مطهری, also Romanized as "Mortezā Motahharī"; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to have an important influence on th ...
and
Ayatollah Taleqani were held. On 11 February 1979 1,000 women were released from the prison.
Following the
1979 Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, many civil and military officials of
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
were detained and executed at the prison, including
Nader Jahanbani
'' Sepahbod'' Nader Jahanbani ( fa, نادر جهانبانی, Nāder-e Jahānbānī; 16 April 1928–13 March 1979) was an Iranian general, distinguished fighter pilot of Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) and the deputy chief of the IIAF under M ...
and
Amir Hossein Rabi'i; Major General
Manuchechr Khosrodad and Prime Minister
Amir Abbas Hoveida
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda ( fa, امیرعباس هویدا, Amīr 'Abbās Hoveyda; 18 February 1919 – 7 April 1979) was an Iranian economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran from 27 January 1965 to 7 August 1977. He was the lo ...
were imprisoned at Qasr before being executed on the roof of
Refah School, where Khomeini had set up his headquarters.
In subsequent decades the prison fell into disuse till in 2005 it was announced by the
ICHTO
Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization ( fa, وزارت میراث فرهنگی، گردشگری و صنایع دستی ایران, ''Vâzart-e Miras-e Ferhengi-ye, Gârdâshigâri-ye vâ Sânai'-ye Dâsti-ye Iran'') is ...
that the compound would become a museum.
In 2008 it was donated to the municipal government. Reopened in 2012, the former prison buildings and offices were turned into museum buildings, surrounded by a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
which carries the same name.
It hosts many cultural events such as the
Nowrooz festival. According to the
Iranian Students News Agency
The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) is a news agency run by Iranian university students.
Position
It covers a variety of national and international topics.Engber, Daniel. What's With the Iranian Students News Agency?, ''Slate'', 2 Februa ...
Qasr was named the most creative museum in the country in 2013.
Gallery
باغ موزه قصر - زندان سیاسی.jpg, Museum of the Qasr Prison
Qasr Museum (Qasr Prison) 1.png, Qasr Museum
Qasr Museum (Qasr Prison) 2.png, Museum of the Qasr Prison
Qasr Museum (Qasr Prison) 3.png, Qasr Museum
Qasr Museum (Qasr Prison) 4.png, A small pavilion at the park.
Qasr Museum (Qasr Prison) 5.png, An entrance to the park.
See also
*
National Garden, Tehran
The National Garden ( fa, باغ ملی, ) or Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gate is a historical and governmental compound in Tehran, Iran.
Formerly referred to as the Parade Square ( fa, میدان مشق, ) (, ), it used to be a military shootin ...
*
National Museum of Iran
The National Museum of Iran ( fa, موزهٔ ملی ایران ) is located in Tehran, Iran. It is an institution formed of two complexes; the Museum of Ancient Iran and the Museum of Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran, which were opened in 1937 ...
*
Ferdows Garden
Ferdows Garden ( fa, باغ فردوس ) is a historical complex located in the district of Tajrish in Shemiran (northern Tehran), Iran.
The complex dates back to the reign of the Qajar dynasty, and includes a mansion which houses the Cinema Museu ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qasr Prison (Museum)
Museums in Tehran
Prisons in Iran
Buildings and structures in Tehran
Prison museums in Asia