Divankhaneh

🕰️When was it built?

The Divankhaneh was built under Karim Khan Zand and became a telegraph office in the Qajar era. In the Pahlavi period parts of its walls were damaged. The two columns of the hall were not wooden at first: the stone columns were taken to Tehran under Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, and wood replaced them.

🏛️What was it built for?

The building was the centre for the administrative business of the Zand government, which is why it stands near the government citadel. It is a two-storey building with inward-looking architecture, so its decoration is far richer inside than on the outer facade.

👀What you will see

• The great hall, which stands on two wooden columns in place of the earlier stone ones.
• Muqarnas in plaster, wood and stone, and wall paintings that decorate the interior.
• Stone carvings of animals and plants that form part of the building's decoration.
• A long pool running the length of the courtyard, and another pool in front of the shahneshin, the main raised hall.

💡Something interesting

Using Qajar-era maps and photographs, archaeologists studied the buried ground beside the Divankhaneh. These excavations found an intact many-sided stone pool, which shed light on part of the site's old layout.

🎒Good to know before you go

• Take your time with the decoration; the contrast between the plain outer facade and the muqarnas and stone carving inside is what sets this building apart.