Dar ul-Funun, now a treasury, education document center and museum, is a reminiscent of Qajar era. It was a modern university that was established in 1851 by the order of Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, with the cooperation of Mirza Reza Khan Mohandesbashi Tabrizi, architect Muhammad Taghi Khan Memarbashi, under the supervision of Baharam Mirza Moez-ol Dowleh.
During the Qajar era, Dar ul-Funun was located in the northern corner of Mobarak Soltani citadel, close to the northern defensive walls, where later turned into Tupkhaneh square. This means that it was located just next to the eastern trench of the citadel and western side of Naseriyeh Street, previously a barracks.
It is interesting to know that the university of Dar ul-Funun opened just two weeks before Amir Kabir was murdered in Kashan. The Qajar structure of Dar ul-Funun was damaged gravely by 1929 due to decay and erosion. Except for a few tiles, the floor of vestibule and Abshah Qanat, no other part exists. What is known today as Dar ul-Funun was made during Reza Shah Pahlavi. Dar ul-Funun had two main sections. The older section was made at the time of Amir Kabir and the new one that is a music school, was built in 1911 in north of the site. The school has different parts such as a print room, a library, about fifty rectangular rooms, intersecting pathways located in four terraces that were five meters wide. There is also a columned Miansara in a form of rectangular. In the middle of this space there is an octagonal pool with eight flower gardens around it and a clock tower.
The first group of students of Dar ul-Funun were one hundred and thirty persons chosen from royal members and landlords. Since the building of the university was located inside the governmental citadel, it proves that advanced educations were considered a governmental affair.
The structure of the first Dar ul-Funun was rapidly destructed. The restoration of the building, which was conducted by the architecture students of the first group, changed it to a great extent, and new sections were added to it. The new structure included corridors and staircases, rooms in the north and south sides, a columned terrace in the north, and the southern structure was built in two stories. The façade is covered with plaster accompanied with brickworks, arched windows, wooden frames and rectangular glasses.
Fortunately, one can visit Dar ul-Funun in Tehran from Saturday to Wednesday, between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is located along the path from Imam Khomeini Street to Naser Khosrow Street
