Few Tehran monuments are as hauntingly beautiful as Qasr, or “palace” prison, a once-notorious complex that reopened in 2012 as a museum and leafy recreational area. Visitors are invited to meander through the gardens, stop by the outdoor tea house, and learn about the fates of prisoners whose tales of abuse, though varied in their historical contexts, are not so different from those suffered by contemporary detainees in the Islamic republic. The site formerly housed a Qajar palace built at the end of the 18th century, but was reconstructed as a prison in the early years of Reza Shah Pahlavi’s administration. The commission went to Nikolai Markov, a Georgian architect and former Persian Cossack brigadier who settled in Iran after the Russian Revolution. Markov, who also designed a stadium, several embassies and government office buildings in Tehran, was known for mixing modern, European and Persian architectural elements. He admired traditional Iranian motifs and preferred to use local materials such as brick, stone, tile and plaster.
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