Destruction of a church at the crossroads of religions in Tehran

The Adventist Church, a relic of modernist architecture and located a few steps from the crossroads of religions in Tehran, was destroyed overnight. The cross in this church was the largest concrete cross in Tehran and Iran, and one of the city's identity symbols. In July 2015, the interior of this church was destroyed overnight.

The threat of destruction and the issue of nighttime vandalism were reported to the Tehran Heritage administrators by the travel website a few days ago, but no appropriate response was received. Following a follow-up with the mayor of District 12 regarding whether the district had issued a permit to destroy the Adventist church, Mr. Saadati announced that nothing new had happened!

The story of the destruction of the Adventist Church began in 2015. The owner of the building southwest of the church, after purchasing several surrounding buildings, intended to build a tower on Jomhuri Street. One of the houses purchased, which was located directly south of the church, was the historical Qajar house of Mausala, which was introduced as a valuable monument in the detailed plan of Tehran. The Qajar house of Mausala belonged to one of the last Jewish rabbis of Iran. This house was also destroyed in the same year.

Note) I don't know who first named the intersection of Jomhuri and 30 Tir as " Crossroads of Religions, " but in this very part of the city, just a few steps from the same Crossroads of Religions, there was a church, a Jewish rabbi's house, and a cafe-restaurant belonging to the Armenian community called Cafe Naderi! Mr. Masjedi Jamei, you named it, we don't remember, but it seems that it is not advisable to get involved in this case, at least until today, when there has been no reaction from you at all, we don't forget that either.

After the destruction of the house of Mautsala by the traveler, the demolition of the Adventist church was delayed. But after a few months, the owner completely demolished the interior of the church at night. The altar, the stucco decorated with the Ten Commandments of Moses, and the interior decorations of the Adventist church were destroyed. According to local people, the owner tried to destroy the church at night.

The travelogue published another report on the internal destruction of the church, and the heritage managers of the time promised to cooperate and register this work as the largest cross in the church of Iran and a sign of modernist architecture in Tehran. This church is one of the architectural masterpieces of the second Pahlavi period, and the cement cross, which is about 8 meters high, is beautifully embedded in the wall of this building. The Adventist church building was built in 1328 and its architect is still unknown.

And again, news was released indicating the possibility of the demolition of the Brilliant pen shop. The same shop whose photos were seen during the August 18 coup and which was for years a place to buy luxurious and stylish pens!

But the story of the destruction did not end there, and in December 2017, the Executive Headquarters of the Imam's decree put up for auction a part of the Naderi Cafe, which was located to the east of this church!

Six dongs of land that will be transferred in its current state and definitively, in addition, the land in question is part of the yard of the Naderi Hotel and the ownership rights are the responsibility of the buyer / Area of ​​the land 475.5 square meters / Zone S123 (function on a regional scale) with a maximum of 6 floors and 340 percent of the permitted building density / Amount 21 billion and 600 million rials / Address: Jomhoori Eslami Street, after Si Tir Street, part of the Naderi Hotel

The owner had intended to buy this section and add it to his property when the news of the auction was republished publicly. This time, it was late in the city council administration at the time. All the managers came to work, and the executive headquarters, considering the volume of the news, announced that the auction would not be held for the time being. I think it would be good to reread the opinions of several managers at the time.

Now neither the church nor the house of Mausala remains, at that time it was the heritage of the organization and now it has become the heritage of the Ministry of Home Affairs! The Heritage initially announced that this building was valuable, but suddenly I don't know why it issued a demolition permit!!! I don't know what role the Ministry of Heritage has in preserving the heritage of this land, what would happen if this Ministry were not there!!!

But the story of the destruction and seizure of buildings belonging to the Adventist community did not end there. In 2019, the trees of the garden belonging to the Adventist community in Chizar, which had previously been confiscated by the executive headquarters, were cut down at night. The garden was 20,000 square meters. At that time, Ms. Tayyebeh Siavashi Shah-Enayati, who was a representative of the people of Tehran in the parliament, followed up on the matter.

The other Adventist church on Vali Asr Street in Tehran is also not doing well. The wall of this church was decorated with Nowruz 3 years ago with the name; Nowruz images with stickers and childish elements, something they usually do with the walls of kindergartens, not the walls of a holy place! The trees in this church garden are also drying up. Heritage managers and municipality managers, don't forget that you have registered Vali Asr Street as a national monument. If you ever want to destroy this place, have a historical memory.

We are waiting for better days…