Museum of the Qasr Prison: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Iranian national heritage site}}

Formerly referred to as the '''Qasr Prison''' ({{lang|fa|زندان قصر}} ''zendān-e qasr'', "CastleMansion Prisonprison"), it was one of the oldest political prisons in Iran, which is now a museum complex surrounded by a [[public park]].

Qasr was originally built in 1790 as [[Qajar Palace|a palace]] with extensive gardens of which nothing but the names remain, in the reign of [[Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar|Fath-ali Shah]] of the [[Qajar Dynastydynasty]].<ref name="Peyvand"/> In 1929 it was repurposed as a prison, the first modern detention center in the country,<ref name="Guardian"/> in which prisoners had legal rights.<ref name="Peyvand">{{cite web | url=http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jan/1013.html | title=Iranian Political Prisoner Cells to Turn into a Museum | publisher=[[Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency]] | work=Peyvand News | date=March 1, 2005 | accessdateaccess-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> [[Nikolai Markov (architect)|Nikolai Markov]], a Georgian architect who settled in Iran after the [[Russian Revolution]], did the rebuild, combining urban industrial design with traditional Iranian features such as [[adobe bricks]], which became known as Markovian bricks.<ref name="Guardian"/> It had 192 rooms for 700 prisoners, of which about 100 cells were solitary.<ref name="Peyvand"/> Here [[Ahmad Ahmadi]], known to prisoners simply as “Dr Ahmadi” administered lethal [[Air embolism|air injectioninjections]]s to several of [[Reza Shah]]'s many opponents, such as the poet [[Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi]]. 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.<ref name="Guardian"/>

For [[Mohammad Reza Shah]], it served as a torture and execution chamber offor thoseextreme whopolitical opposedcrimes hiswhich regimeby the late 1970s was extensively reformed by the Red Cross into what was described a “hotel” by the staff. In its dark, dank-smelling cells [[Ayatollah Khomeini]], [[Ali Khamenei]], [[Morteza Motahhari]] and [[Ayatollah Taleqani]] were held. On 11 February 1979 1,000 women were liberatedreleased from the prison.<ref name="Guardian"/> Following the [[1979 Revolution]], many civil and military officials of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] were detained and executed at the prison, including [[Nader Jahanbani]] and [[Amir Hossein Rabi'i]];<ref>{{cite news|title=Shah's air force chief executed|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vfZBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RaoMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6770,1232709&dq=amir+hossein+rabii&hl=en|accessdateaccess-date=31 July 2013|newspaper=[[The Telegraph-Herald]]|date=9 April 1979|agency=UPI|location=Tehran}}</ref> Major General [[Manuchechr Khosrodad]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.iranrights.org/memorial/story/-3306/manuchehr-khosrodad | title=Manuchehr Khosrodad: One Person’sPerson's Story | publisher=Abdorrahman Boroumand Center | work=Human Rights & Democracy for Iran | accessdateaccess-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> and Prime Minister [[Amir Abbas Hoveida]]<ref name = "fallguy">{{cite web

| authorlinkauthor-link = Abbas Milani

| accessdateaccess-date = December 26, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Eminent Persians, Volume 1 | publisher=Syracuse University Press | author=Milani, Abbas | authorlinkauthor-link=Abbas Milani | year=2008 | pages=204 | isbn=978-0-81560-907-0 | chapterurlchapter-url=https://books.google.co.nzcom/books?id=ixU33FaG_dgC&q=193#v=snippet&q=193&f=false | chapter=Amir-Abbas Hoveyda}}</ref> were imprisoned at Qasr before being executed on the roof of [[Refah School]], where Khomeini had set up his headquarters.<ref name="Guardian"/>

In subsequent decades the prison fell into disuse till in 2005 it was announced by the [[ICHTO]] that the compound would become a museum.<ref name="Peyvand"/> 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]] which carries the same name.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2016/feb/11/qasr-prison-iran-pictures | title=From palace to prison: Iran's Qasr – in pictures | work=[[The Guardian]] / [[The Tehran Bureau]] |authorsauthor1=Marketa Hulpachova and |author2=Sourena Parham | date=February 11, 2016 | accessdateaccess-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="TripAdvisor">{{cite web | url=https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attraction_Review-g293999-d4553615-Reviews-Ghasr_Garden_Museum-Tehran_Tehran_Province.html | title=Ghasr Garden & Museum (Tehran) - All You Need to Know Before You Go (with Photos) | publisher=[[TripAdvisor]] | accessdateaccess-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> It hosts many cultural events such as the [[Nowrooz festival]]. According to the [[Iranian Students News Agency]] Qasr was named the most creative museum in the country in 2013.<ref name="ArchDaily">{{cite web | url=https://www.archdaily.com/381379/qasr-garden-museum-arash-mozafari | title=Qasr Garden Museum / Experimental Branch of Architecture | publisher=[[ArchDaily]] | date=June 5, 2013 | accessdateaccess-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

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