Ebrat Museum

the origins of the doulab catholic cemetery go back to the middle of the 19th century. in 1855, the young dr. louis andré ernest cloquet, personal physician to nassereddin shah (cf. encyclopaedia iranica), died and was buried in a field situated in the tehran district of doulab, close to the armenian cemetery. this patch of land was to become the burial site for all catholics of tehran, foreigners and locals. dr. cloquet's tomb, bearing a small brick cupola, can be seen up till the present day.from the time of their arrival in tehran in 1862, the lazarists, being the only catholic priests in town, took charge of the cemetery. in those days there were 87 catholics living in tehran, all of whom were foreigners or chaldeans. in 1886, joseph désiré tholozan, an armenian officer of the légion d?honneur and physician for the french mission purchased the terrain for the cemetery. from that time on, the cemetery was at the service of the catholic community of tehran, which became ever more numerous and international.