Iran - Andrew Burke [76]
During the 1970s, hundreds of political prisoners – including several prominent clerics and postrevolutionary figures whose names you will recognise from street signs – were held in tiny cells and, in many cases, tortured by the Anti Sabotage Joint Committee, a branch of the despised Savak internal security agency. The various functions of the prison are dramatically recreated with waxwork dummies and liberal doses of red paint. The shah’s henchmen are invariably depicted wearing neckties (a pro-Western symbol in modern Iran) and looking cruel and brutish (check out the eyebrows). The propaganda element is emphasised by the photos of members of the former royal family prominently displayed throughout – just in case you forgot who was responsible.
Propaganda aside, this prison was undoubtedly a very bad place to end up and the people running it guilty of some heinous crimes. It’s just a pity that the abhorrence of torture and politically motivated incarceration expressed here are not shared by the ruling regime; stories from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison are just as horrifying.
All visitors must follow the one-hour, 45-minute tour, conducted in Farsi by a former prisoner. Some exhibits have brief explanations in English, though little interpretation is required. The tour includes a film that might not be suitable for young children.
NATIONAL JEWELS MUSEUM
Through a large iron gate at the northern end of Bank Melli, past a couple of well-armed guards, you’ll find the cavernous vault that is the National Jewels Museum (Map; 6646 3785; Ferdosi St; admission IR30,000, child under 12 yr not permitted; 2-4.30pm Sat-Tue). Owned by the Central Bank but actually housed underneath the central branch of Bank Melli, this museum is probably the biggest tourist drawcard in Tehran. If you’ve already visited the art gallery at the Golestan Palace, you will have seen the incredible jewellery with which the Safavid and Qajar monarchs adorned themselves. Come here to gawp at the real things.
Believe it or not, at least one war has been fought over these jewels. Most of the collection dates back to Safavid times, when the shahs scoured Europe, India and the lands of the Ottoman Empire for booty with which to decorate the then capital, Esfahan. However, when Mahmud Afghan invaded Iran in 1722, he plundered the treasury and sent its contents to India. On ascending the throne in 1736, Nader Shah Afshar despatched courtiers to ask for the return of the jewels. When their powers of persuasion proved unequal to the task, he sent an army to prove that he was serious. To get the soldiers off his back, Mohammed Shah of India was forced to hand over the Darya-ye Nur and Kuh-e Nur diamonds, a Peacock Throne (though not the one you’ll see here) and other assorted treasures. After Nader Shah’s murder in 1747, Ahmed Beg plundered the treasury and dispersed the jewels. The Kuh-e Nur diamond found its way into the sticky fingers of the colonial British and has been locked up in the Tower of London since.
You can pick up a guidebook for IR6000 at the shop as you enter, or take one of the regular and professional tours in English, French, German, Arabic or Turkish – it’s included in the ticket price, and worth waiting for, as there are no descriptions in English. Make sure you don’t miss the Darya-ye Nur (Sea of Light), a pink diamond weighing 182 carats and said to be the largest uncut diamond in the world; the Peacock (Naderi) Throne outside the vault door (see the boxed text, below); the tall Kiani Crown made for Fath Ali Shah in 1797; the crowns worn by the last shah and his wife, Farah; and the incredible 34kg Globe of Jewels, made in 1869 using 51,366 precious stones – the seas are made from emeralds and the land from rubies (with Iran, England and France set in diamonds).
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THE PEACOCK THRONE
There has long been confusion about the origins of the Peacock Throne that now sits at the entrance to the National Jewels Museum. The real story is this: