en Masoudieh Mansion

Masoudieh mansion
Masoudieh mansion
عمارت مسعودیه
General information
Location	Tehran, Iran
Address	Baharestan square
Completed	1878

The Masoudieh Mansion (Persian: عمارت مسعودیه) is a historic mansion in Tehran, Iran. It was built as a residence for the Qajar prince Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan in 1878, hence the name Masoudieh.^[1]

Entrance of Masoudiyeh mansion, Baharestan square

History

Masoudieh has gone through many historical events ever since it was built. During the constitutional revolution, due to the disagreements Zell-e Soltan had with Mozaffar ad-Din Shah and later Mohammad Ali Shah, his mansion became a revolutionary foothold. In 1908 a handmade bomb exploded under the Shah's carriage near the mansion, giving him the excuse to carry out the 1908 bombardment of the parliament.^[2]^[3]

Many of the first cultural institutions of Iran were first founded in Masoudieh. For example, the first national library and national museum were established in this place.^[4]^[5]

For a short time in 1963-1964 the mansion was used as military college.^[6] It was later given to the ministry of education after the ministry was established.^[4] At last, the government decided to give the building to the organization of national heritage (that had not become a ministry at that time yet and operated under Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance) on 1 March 1998 and was listed in the national heritage sites of Iran on 17 January 1999 with the number 2190.^[7]

Architecture

The garden of the Masoudieh mansion was built by the order of Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan, the son of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in 1295 A.H. It was built by the work of Reza Qoli Khan (nicknamed Siraj al-Mulk) on a land with an area of about 4000 square meters, with an exterior (diwan house) and interior and other annexes.^[8]