The clock of Golestan Palace, which was a gift from Queen Victoria of England to Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, was repaired after years of blackout. Its bell rang this morning in Tehran.
This clock from Queen Victoria is more than 150 years old. It was installed on the Shams-ol-Emareh tower in Golestan Palace.
Queen Victoria presented this clock to Iran’s king at the time who was Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, on one of his journeys to “Farang”.
Shams-ol-Emareh was the tallest mansion in Tehran at the time and had a perfect position for the gift. The ironic part was that the loud ringing of the clock’s bell was so annoying for the court and the people of the royal citadel. With the attempts to make it quieter, they turned it off altogether.
In 2011, Mohammad Saatchi, the city’s old watchmaker managed to make the clock work without its loud annoying ring. But for a while, that was the only change Queen Victoria ’s gift got.
However, the bells of this historic clock rang after years of silence. District 12’a mayor said that “Golestan Palace is Tehran’s one and only UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE and that we all must protect it.”
Although, the main reason for mending Queen Victoria ’s clock was the reopening of “Bab-e-A’ali” or “Sublime Porte”, the eastern door of Golestan Palace. Reopening this door in Golestan Palace was Tehran’s long-term concern.
Launching the gift of Queen Victoria was also part of the “Bab-e-A’ali” project. This clock was out of order from 1925 till now. When this clock rang again today, it evoked the memory of old Tehran.
Experts are to be trained for this purpose so that Tehran and indeed Queen Victoria will no longer witness the blackout of this symbolic clock.
As anything could recreate a living memory sounds have this ability too. that why fixing the clock to bring back Tehran from the 20th century was very important.