Parvin Etesami’s House

Parvin Etesami’s house is one of the historical mansions and tourist Attractions of Tabriz City of the East Azarbaijan Province of Iran.

Despite the fact that the construction of this house dates back to less than 100 years ago (early 20th century AD) since Parvin Etesami was born and grew in it, Iranian people honor it as a historical house, which was once glorious in terms of its architectural features.

Who Was Parvin Etesami?

Rukhshande Etesami, popularly known as Parvin Etesami, was born in Tabriz in 1907 AD. Parvin’s father was a famous person who also engaged in poetry and translation. Parvin learned English and Arabic from her father and got to know the great poetry masters of her time. This great contemporary lady poet of Iran, who is especially famous among Iranians because of her special style in composing poetry, lived in this house until the age of seven and then shifted to Tehran with her family.

Even though she did not live long and passed away at the age of 35 - due to typhoid - her poems were, however, greatly appreciated by the people of Iran, to the extent that many consider her to be the greatest contemporary female poet of Iran.

In her poems, Parvin used the style of debate and presented moral points and advice in the form of conversations between two characters that were not necessarily symbols of good and evil. In her poems, these conversations take place between man and nature or even two objects (such as thread and needle). Opposing tyranny and defending truth and rightfulness are among the most frequent themes of Parvin’s poems. Parvin Etesami’s Divan consists of 606 poems.

History of Parvin Etesami’s House

Parvin Etesami was born and lived in this house until she was seven years old. At that time, this house was located at the end of a narrow alley called “Oudjolan”, but with the changes that have taken place in Tabriz City, this house is now located in the historical “Sheshgolan” neighborhood of Tabriz.

Features of Parvin Etesami’s House

A part of this mansion has been dedicated to the introduction of this contemporary Iranian poet and named “Khaneh-ye Sha’er” (lit. Poet’s House”. A statue of Parvin Etesami can be seen at the entrance of this part of the building. The house has an area of 1300 square meters the courtyard of which is 900 square meters. There is a hall with two entrances in the east and west on the lower floor of the house the walls of which have been decorated with Parvin Etesami’s poems. A glass cabinet containing some of Parvin’s personal items, a turquoise color bowl, and a handbag of this famous poet can be seen in the hall.

There are three rooms on the upper floor of the building, one of which leads to the cellar of the house. Since people prepared most of their necessities at home, there was an oven for baking bread in most of the houses. After certain operations were done to restore the house, its oven can well be recognized on this floor of the house.

There is an octagonal pond in the cellar of the house, which had a lower temperature than other parts of the house. The presence of this pond also helped lower the inside temperature of the cellar. which was used to spend the hot summer days and to store food in its cool environment. There are five rooms in the basement.

Parvin Etesami’s House was inscribed on the list of Iran’s national heritage in the year 2006.

Despite the fact that the construction of this house dates back to less than 100 years ago (early 20th century AD) since Parvin Etesami was born and grew in it, Iranian people honor it as a historical house, which was once glorious in terms of its architectural features.