Ferdows Garden (, ) is a historic complex located in the district of

Tajrish Tajrish (, ) is a neighbourhood of Tehran, capital of Iran. Administratively it is in Shemiranat County, Tehran province and serves as the capital of the county. At one time a village, it was later absorbed into the city of Tehran. The Tajri ...

Shemiran Shemirān (, ) is the capital of Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, Iran, but is actually located just north of the borders of Tehran County along Chamran Expressway and Sadr Expressway and it is the northernmost district of the city of T ...

(northern

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The complex dates back to the

Qajar era The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

, and includes a mansion which houses the Cinema Museum of Iran since 500 BCE.

Etymology

By the time of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

, the term ''pairidaēza'' (

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

) referred to extensive gardens built all over the empire. It derived from

Proto-Iranian Proto-Iranian or Proto-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Iranian languages branch of Indo-European language family and thus the ancestor of the Iranian languages such as Persian, Pashto, Sogdian, Zazaki, Ossetian, Mazandara ...

''paridaiźa'', literally meaning "circular boundary".

Modern Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th/ ...

''ferdows'' () and ''pardis'' () are derivatives of the same word, which occurred in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

as ''parádeisos'' () and entered English as ''paradise''. According to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', as well as the ''

Dehkhoda Dictionary The ''Dehkhoda Dictionary'' or ''Dehkhoda Lexicon'' ( or ) is the largest comprehensive Persian encyclopedic dictionary ever published, comprising 200 volumes. It is published by the Tehran University Press (UTP) under the supervision of the ...

'', this word entered Hebrew as ''pardēs'' (), following the arrival of the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

in the 5th century BC. In the sections of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

that predate this arrival, the notions of "heaven" and "hell" are not specific; only later has ''pārdēs'', originally meaning "garden" and "orchard", been endowed with the spiritual meaning that is signified by this word.

Dehkhoda Allameh Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā (; 1879 – March 9, 1956) was a prominent Iranian literary writer, philologist, and lexicographer. He was the author of the '' Dehkhoda Dictionary'', the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language publis ...

notes that ''pardēs'' has been used as a synonym for the Hebrew word ''gān'', meaning "the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

". He also states that the word ''firdaws'', used twice in the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, has its root in

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

History

The origin of complex dates back to the reign of

Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar ''shah'' of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutela ...

(1808–1848) of the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

, who ordered the construction of a mansion named ''Mohammadie'' (Persian: ) in

. He died in September 1848, and the unfinished structure was subsequently disused. Later on, Hossein Ali Khan (Mo'ayyer-ol-Mamalek), a courtier close to Mohammad Shah, followed up the construction of a two-floor Qajar-style mansion within the same area. During the reign of Naser ed-Din Shah Qajar (1848–1896), the ownership of the enclosure was transferred to Dust-Ali Khan (Nezam od Dowle), the son of Hossein Ali Khan. He refurbished the complex and renamed it ''Ferdows''. Afterwards, Dust-Mohammad Khan, the son of Dust-Ali Khan and the son-in-law of Naser ed Din Shah, built a new mansion to the south of the enclosure. He used the workmanship of architects from

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

and

Yazd Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...

, and named it ''Rašk-e Behešt'', meaning "the Envy of Heaven". Sepahsalar-e Azam-e Tonekaboni

The complex changed several hands, and the older mansion was eventually destroyed. The remaining structure was then bought by Mohammad-Vali Khan Tonekaboni, who was the leader of the Constitutionalist Revolutionary Forces from Iran's northern regions of

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

and

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

. He added new pools and fountains to the complex, and regenerated the aqueduct that, in earlier years, had fed the garden with fresh water. The current gate of the garden also dates from this time. The complex was leased to various ministries over years. In 1937, the Ministry of Education housed the primary and secondary school of Shapur in this compound. After the

1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, until 2002, Ferdows Garden served as a training center for filmmaking. Since 2002, it houses the Cinema Museum.

In Iranian cinema

''Ferdows Garden, 5 o'Clock in the Afternoon'' (2005), an Iranian film written, produced, and directed by Siamak Shayeghi, with

Reza Kianian Reza Kianian (, born June 19, 1951, in Tehran) is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including two Crystal Simorgh, a Hafez Award and two Iran Cinema Celebration Awards. Early life Kianian is the second child of a family of ...

, Ladan Mostofi, and

Azita Hajian Azita Hajian (, born 10 January 1958) is an Iranian actress. Early life She was born on 10 January 1958 in Narmak, Tehran. She graduated in theatre acting and directing from the ''Faculty of Dramatic Arts'' in Tehran, Azita Hajian started stage ...

in the principal roles, refers to the public park from where the main mansion is in view.Sean Penn in Iran,

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

(newspaper), 2005: August 22
Day One
August 23
Day Two
August 24
Day Three
August 25
Day Four
August 26
Day Five

Gallery

file:Ferdows Garden, Tehran.jpg, Exterior view of the mansion file:کاخ فردوس.jpg, Ferdows Garden file:مسیر باغ فردوس.jpg, Path leading to the mansion file:ورودی عمارت باغ فردوس.jpg, Entrance file:Bagh ferdows 4.jpg, At night file:Bagh ferdows6.jpg, At night file:IMAG0413.jpg, Entrance file:Ferdow garden tehran.jpg file:Muse cinema.jpg, An interior view file:باغ فردوس 02.jpg, A view through the window

References

External links