Shah of Iran’s Countryside Home Is Now a Museum

 

The shah of Iran’s last home before fleeing his country in 1979 was a huge property in the Alborz Mountains — a place no Iranian ever dreamed of visiting.

Today, a visit costs them around $1.

The Niavaran Palace now welcomes the public to see the life the shah enjoyed as Iran’s ruler for almost 40 years. Visitors can explore large, stately structures built on 11 hectares of land.

As Iranians remember Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s ouster 40 years ago, Niavaran Palace has taken on even more meaning for those visiting and working there.

Jamal Shahosseini was once a young revolutionary who raided¹ the Shah’s home with other rebels.

“When you do something consciously and with an ideology², you go until the end, despite pressures,” he said.

History of the Niavaran palace

The palace dates back to in the 1800s, when Iran’s then ruling Qajar family decided³ to build a summer home on a mountainside. As Tehran grew during the 1960s, the next shah, Reza, and his family increasingly spent time outside the capital as political tensions against his rule grew. That included a failed 1965 attempt against his life by a member of his guard.

The royal family found safety at the palace. The shah’s third wife, Queen Farah, had been a building design student. She spent millions of dollars on Niavaran. Part of one building had a collection of private artworks she had purchased. It was known as the Window to the World.

The shah would walk the grounds or speed along its roads in one of his many sports cars. The shah was also a pilot. He would fly helicopters in and out of the palace, staying off the streets as tensions rose.

All that spending, and reports of public money being misused⁴ helped to fuel anger against the shah and his family. From overseas, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for a revolution.

As 1979 came, the pressure became intense for the shah, who at the time was secretly battling cancer that would eventually kill him in exile⁵.

On January 16, 1979, he left the palace for the last time by helicopter, looking out over a Tehran he never would see again.

Four weeks later, protesters pushed past the remaining Imperial⁶ Guards at the palace. Among them was Shahosseini, now a 63-year-old guard at the museum. He remembers writing on the walls. Protesters wrote statements like “Viva Khomeini” and “Death to the Shah.”

Once a countryside home, now a museum

Today, the museum’s visitors can walk around the shah’s former home and see the clothes and possessions he and his family left behind. In one room stands a human-shaped form wearing the shah’s official uniform. Two paintings also still remain showing him and Queen Farah.

Another building has some of the shah’s many costly⁷ automobiles⁸, including three Rolls-Royce and five Mercedes-Benz vehicles and six motorcycles.

For Fardin Asgari, a 28-year-old visitor born long after the revolution, the French look of the furniture was a sign that “the people viewed the shah as a dictator⁹.”

“They wanted to a have popular and elected government, not a dictatorship,” he said.

Workers try to keep the property as it was when the shah left, including leaving Prince Alireza’s room complete with its electric piano and pictures of naval¹⁰ warships¹¹ attached to the walls. It can feel like a step back in time, a feel that some get even today as Iran faces new tensions with the United States.

“Today’s pressures are for depriving¹² us of our independence,” Shahosseini said. “We did not have any independence under the shah’s reign¹³.”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

ideology – n. the set of ideas and beliefs of a group or political party

palace – n. the official home of a ruler; a large, stately building

consciously – adj. of or related to having knowledge of something

museum – n. a place where objects of artistic¹⁴, cultural, historical or scientific interest are housed and shown to visitors

furniture – n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use

view – v. to think about (someone or something) in a particular way

deprive¹⁵ – v. to take something away from someone or something; to not let an individual or something have something

1 raided   

对…进行突然袭击（raid的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The enemy raided the docks. 敌人突然袭击了码头。
• Enemy troops raided our border areas. 敌军对我边境地区进行袭击。

2 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 exile   

n.流放，被流放者；vt.流放，放逐，使流亡

参考例句：

• After an exile of eight years her uncle returned to Cairo.她叔叔背井离乡8年后返回开罗。
• Napoleon was sent into exile on an island.拿破仑被流放到一个岛上。

6 imperial   

adj.帝王的，至尊的；n.特等品

参考例句：

• They made an objection to the imperial system with resolution.他们坚决反对帝制。
• The Prince Imperial passed away last night.皇太子昨晚去世了。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 dictator   

n.独裁者，爱发号施令的人

参考例句：

• We felt quite impotent to resist the will of the dictator.我们感到无力抗拒独裁者的意志。
• A dictator must have a firm hand.独裁者的手段是很厉害的。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

12 depriving   

剥夺，夺去，使丧失( deprive的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Quite naturally, these managers are averse to depriving themselves of able subordinates. 很自然，这些主管不愿意失去能干的下属。
• This is, in effect, depriving people of their right to be creative. 抹杀了一个人的独特个性，你其实就是在剥夺他的创造的能力。

13 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

14 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

15 deprive   

vt.（of）夺去，剥夺，使丧失

参考例句：

• This law will deprive us of our most basic rights.这条法律将剥夺我们最基本的权利。
• We have no right to deprive their life.我们没有权利去剥夺它们的生命。