In the old texture of Kermanshah, a magnificent Tekyeh is located, which is unique among other similar places in Iran. Tekyeh is a gathering place for Shiite Muslims to mourn the sacred month of Muharram. Shia Muslims mourn the death of Imam Ḥosein ibn Ali and his family.
They honor the martyrs by praying and avoiding joyous events. A Tekyeh normally looks like a mosque and such places are most popular in Iran. They are designed with particular elements of Persian architecture. Because of the unique design and the mirror works of Tekyeh Biglar Beigi, this place has turned to a tourist attraction. It is visited by many travelers in Kermanshah each year.
Here, you will also have the opportunity to visit the calligraphy and paleolithic museum. Join us in this article to explore this attraction together.
This monument is in the ancient quarters of Kermanshah. It is located in a neighborhood called Feyz Abad. If you go down the street opposite the Masjed-e Jameh of Kermanshah and turn left on the first alley, you will reach this beautiful Tekyeh.
This monument was made during the Qajar era by Abdullah Khan, known as Biglar Beigi. It has three entrance doors and the main entrance is on the south-eastern part of the building. The entrance is beautifully decorated with gypsum plasterboard and original Persian motifs. There are also two rows of arches on either side of the entrance.
The lower row is decorated with patterns similar to the entrance. But the arches of the upper rows are adorned with gypsum figurines from the Qajar era. When you step into this Tekyeh, you will see a porch with many niches on the walls. The ceiling is also designed using brickwork.
On the north side of Tekyeh, there is an octagonal wooden door through which you can access the interior parts. After that, a long corridor is located which leads to the main courtyard. The ceiling of the corridor is also adorned with beautiful designs.
Through another entrance in the northern part, you can access the north side of the building. This entrance leads to a dead-end alley. On the south side of the corridor, there are two wooden ports that let you access the other parts of the Tekyeh. There is also a third entrance on the southwest front.
Tekyeh Biglar Beigi has a large courtyard that is located about 2.5 meters lower than the street level. In the middle of the courtyard, there is a beautiful, large pond. This courtyard is home to a large group of mourners in Muharram each year. It seems that in the past the people were hosted in the yard using tents during winter. The courtyard used to be surrounded by other sections. The northeast and south parts of the courtyard were used as residential areas.
The famous dome of the house is located in the west part of the courtyard. This part is called Hussainieh and is known because of its dazzling mirror works. These mirror works are created by Master Mohammad-Ali Tehran in 1974.
There is also a beautiful yard leading to the Biglar Beigi Public Bath. The southern part of the Hussainieh accommodated women mourners in the past. It was also used to keep the necessary equipment for these religious ceremonies.
The Tekyeh Biglar Beigi has 24 rooms, the floors of which are one meter above the yard floor level. Inside each room, there are three ledges used for holding different elements. The ceilings of rooms are decorated with beautiful plaster works.
There are also two beautiful wooden columns which add to the beauty of this monument. The balcony area overlooks the courtyard and is adorned with a very beautiful wooden sash decorated with plaster columns.
As well as a calligraphy museum, the only paleolithic museum of the middle east is located here. This museum was founded by Fereidoun Biglari and Alireza Moradi Bisotouni in 2007. It contains a collection of stone tools and human bones from the Paleolithic period of Iran and other countries.
The main reason for establishing such a museum is the existence of Paleolithic zones in the Zagros mountain range. The region offered a very favorable condition to human beings for hunting. The museum contains the earliest evidence of human settlement in Iran. It includes many stone tools and the fossils of the hunted animals.
The Zagros Paleolithic Museum consists of 4 rooms, each containing the remains of the Late Stone Age and the Neolithic period. The museum houses many tools such as stones, axes, and the human skulls since the Stone Age to the present day.
Besides, there is a Neanderthal man’s moulage in this museum, made in real dimensions. It was created by a group of sculptor artists under the supervision of Dr. Fereidon Bigler (Iranian archaeologist and paleontologist). You can observe the physical characteristics of the Neanderthal Zagros human here.