Azadi Tower Tehran
Azadi Tower
The Azadi Tower is an icon of the city of Tehran.
The distinctively shaped arch is located in the western part of Tehran near Mehrabat International Airport.
The word Azadi means national independence and the Azadi Tower was completed in 1971 for the celebrations given by Mohammad Reza Shah to commemorate 2,500 years of Iranian Kings. It was originally known as the Shahyad Tower (“Remembrance of Shahs”).
The 3 floor, 45m high monument is constructed from large 25,000 granite blocks from Hamedan province. Almost 15,000 differently shaped blocks were used to create its unique shape.
Although modern in style, the design incorporates both pre- and post-Islamic architectural styles. The 21m high archway is representative of the pre-Islamic Sassanid period while it is also pointed to represent hands raised in prayer.
The architect was Hossein Amanat, a young graduate from the University of Tehran, who won a nationwide competition in 1966 to design the Shahyad Tower. The constructors were the UK-based firm of Arup.
Amanat, a Bahai’i, who also designed buildings at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran and the Iranian embassy in Beijing, was forced to flee Iran after the 1979 Revolution and moved to Canada.
Four elevators and two staircases (286 stairs) take you to the top of the tower from where you can see extensive views of Tehran. In the basement is an impressive museum divided into two rooms.
The first contains pottery and glassware from prehistoric through to Islamic Iran as well as bronze artifacts dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries BC excavated from Lurestan.
The second room at the museum contains photographs and models depicting traditional life from different parts of Iran.
Access
Azadi Square Station on Line 4 of the Tehran metro is the closest station to Azadi Tower.
For a full list of Tehran’s places of interest click here
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