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Azadi Tower photo by Bernard Gagnon –

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Azadi Tower

The Azadi Tower means “Freedom Tower”. It was formerly known as the Shahyad Tower which means “Shah’s Memorial Tower”. It is a monument located on Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran. The tower is about 45 meters tall and is completely clad in cut marble.

It is one of the landmarks of Tehran, marking the west entrance to the city, and is part of the Azadi Cultural Complex, which also includes an underground museum. In the article are the top ten amazing facts about the Azadi Tower.

1. It was commissioned by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi photo by Modesikuwasi –

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was born on 26 October 1919 and passed on on 27 July 1980. He is also known as Mohammad Reza Shah. He was the last Shah (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. He is the one who commanded that the Azadi Tower be built.

2. The tower was completed on a very important civic year

Azadi Tower photo by Parsa 2au –

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Construction of Azadi Tower as commissioned by Reza Pahlavi ended in 1971. Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 9 July 1971. The result was a victory for the New Iran Party, which won 230 of the 268 seats in the Majlis and 28 of the 30 elected seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was around 35%.

The elections were boycotted by the Pan-Iranist Party, which complained that the government held a monopoly over campaign broadcasts on state radio and television, and also claimed that its newspaper had been censored. Its offshoot, the Iranians’ Party, won a seat by its secretary-general.

1971 was a year in Iran when many things that took place. It was the year when; Iran had their Parliamentary elections and Pan-Iranist Party boycotted the election results. This is the exact year when the construction of the Azadi Tower ended.

3. The Azadi Tower was built in celebration of the Persian empire

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi commissioned the building of the Azadi Tower to mark the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire.

The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire was a national event in Iran that consisted of an elaborate set of grand festivities in October 1971 to celebrate the founding of the ancient Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great.

The celebration was intended to highlight Iran’s ancient civilization and history as well as to showcase its contemporary advances under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The celebrations highlighted Iran’s Aryan roots and pre-Islamic origins while promoting Cyrus the Great as a national hero.

4. Architect Hossein Amanat is credited for designing the tower

Hossein Amanat photo by ararat house-

The then 24-year-old architect who had just graduated from Tehran University hesitantly entered a competition to design a monument to mark the 2,500-year celebration of the founding of the Persian empire.

The architect, Hossein Amanat, had no idea that his hastily prepared design, which went on to win the competition, would one day become a focal point of the Iranian capital鈥檚 skyline, serving as a backdrop to some of the country鈥檚 most turbulent political events.

5. Amanat used classical and post-classical Iranian architecture in Azadi Tower

Hosseini Amanati photo at Azadi Tower by Himself –

Post-classical history, as used in global history, generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and the development of trade networks between civilizations.

Amanat’s ideas were based upon classical and post-classical Iranian architecture, popular influences on art in the 1960s following the White Revolution. Iran’s increasing wealth sparked modernization programs and sent the art industry into a renaissance-like period.

The White Revolution or the Shah and People Revolution was a far-reaching series of reforms resulting in aggressive modernization in Iran launched on 26 January 1963 by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which lasted until 1979.

6. The first name associated with this monument was Darv膩ze-ye Kuro拧

Darv膩ze-ye Kuro拧 means “Gate of Cyrus”, and at the time of the Centenary Celebrations, Asadollah Alam, who chaired the Council of Celebrations, referred to the monument as Darv膩ze-ye 艩膩han拧膩hi (“Imperial Gate”).

The monument’s ultimate official name was decided before the announcement of the competition for the monument’s design in September 1966.

7. The tower was named Azadi Tower in 1979

Azadi Tower at night photo by 亘賴丕丿乇 賴丕蹖 夭丕丿賴 –

Bahram Farahvashi, a scholar and professor of ancient Iranian languages who worked with the Council of Celebrations, came up with the officially designated name of the structure, 艩ahy膩d 膧ry膩mehr.

Built in 1971 in commemoration of the 2,500th year of the foundation of the Imperial State of Iran, this “gateway into Tehran” was named the 艩ahy膩d (“Shah’s Memorial”) in honor of the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi). However, later the tower was renamed 膧z膩di (“Freedom”) following the 1979 Revolution.

8. The main contractor for the construction of the tower was the MAP Company

Azadi Tower photo by Blondinrikard Fr枚berg from G枚teborg, Sweden-

Built with white marble from Isfahan Province, the monument includes 8,000 blocks of stone. The stones were all located and supplied by Ghanbar Rahimi, who was well known for his extensive knowledge of quarries, often known as the Solt膩n-e Sang-e Ir膩n “Iran’s Sultan of Stone”.

Computers were used to “define its complex woven surfaces,” which, at the time, was a new technological technique. MAP Company was then used as the main contractor. MAP Company was supervised by Ghaffar Davarpanah Varnosfaderani, a renowned Iranian stonemason.

9. Gate of Words light show was projected on the Azadi Tower

German artist Philipp Geist organized a projection mapping installation named Gate of Words at the Azadi Tower, on the occasion of German Unity Day. The show was held from October 3 to 5, 2015.

In this project, the artist visualized the topics of freedom, peace, space, and time in a poetical manner. Geist developed a light installation made of colored words and concepts in different languages and abstract painterly compositions of images.

The glowing words were in English, German, and Persian, moving in sync with live music on the walls of the tower.

10. The original show was planned to be projected in Azadi Tower in 1971

Azadi Tower photo by Parsa 2au –

The original show, devised in 1971, was replaced in 1975 by a new one that invited visitors to discover Iran’s geographic and natural diversity along with its fundamental historical elements.

It exhibited several national achievements, technical undertakings, calligraphed poems, and miniature paintings. The project, devised by a Czechoslovak company, required 12,000 meters of film, 20,000 color slides, 20 movie projectors, and 120 slide projectors.

The audiovisual programs were directed by professor Jaroslav Fri膷 (1928鈥�2000). Five computers operated the entire system.