Takyeh Dowlat

Takyeh Dowlat
Takyeh Dowlat by Kamal-ol-Molk
LocationTehran, Iran
Coordinates35°40′42.65″N 51°25′15.93″E / 35.6785139°N 51.4210917°E / 35.6785139; 51.4210917
OwnerRoyal court of Iran (Qajar dynasty)
Genre(s)Takyeh
Theatre
First Constituent assembly of Iran
Construction
Opened1868
Demolished1946
ArchitectHossein-Ali Mehrin

The Takyeh Dowlat (Persian: تکیه دولت, lit.'State Takyeh') was a royal theater in Tehran, Iran. It was the most famous of all the ta'zieh performance spaces, for the Mourning of Muharram. It had a capacity for more than 4,000 people. Built in 1868 by the order of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, south-east of the Golestan Palace on the site of the Síyáh-Chál, the royal theater's sumptuous magnificence surpassed that of Europe's greatest opera houses in the opinion of many Western visitors. Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin said on his first visit that it was comparable to Verona Arena.

According to Karim Pirnia, Hossein-Ali Mehrin was the architect of this building.