Tekyeh Dowlat (Royal Theater)
Built 1868 – Demolished 1947

This article originally was published on 3/21/2018

Tekyeh Dowlat was a magnificent theater built in the heart of Tehran in 1868 by the Qajari king Naser Din Shah. The theater was built for hosting the royal Muharram tazieh performances (reenactments of the battle of Karbala). Naser Din Shah had the Tekyeh Dowlat built on the site of the Siyah-Chal which was an underground dungeon. He ordered the dungeon to be filled in with soil and suspended its operations, from there the royal theater was built. Tekyeh Dowlat’s magnificence was known to surpass that of even the grandest European opera houses and records of European visitors mention they stood in awe of the grandeur of the structure. The structure consisted of a large central stage/ courtyard surrounded by a tall four story rotunda. A vast steel framed dome rose over the courtyard and could be covered to provide comfort to viewers when appropriate.

The structure carried with it incredible symbolism of the power of the Qajar dynasty and the importance of Islam in the Qajar dynasty. Decades later (in 1925) it was from this theater that Reza Shah proclaimed the downfall of the Qajar dynasty and his own rise to power. He ordered the demolition of Tekyeh Dowlat in 1947, amidst his laws banning any religious gatherings and most notably tazieh performances. In it’s place a bank was built and the site become owned by the Bahai community until the event of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Unfortunately though, the site still remains a bank.