---
title: "The Báb’s Remains and the Shrine on Mount Carmel"
description: "After the Báb’s 1850 execution in Tabriz, his remains were kept in hiding and later carried to the Holy Land. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá interred them on Mount Carmel in 1909; the golden-domed shrine was completed in 1953."
url: "https://hasbara.co.il/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-historical-journey-of-the-b-b-s-sacred-remains"
type: "resource-page"
locale: "en"
categories: ["Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa: Global Spiritual Headquarters"]
---

# The Báb’s Remains and the Shrine on Mount Carmel

*After the Báb’s 1850 execution in Tabriz, his remains were kept in hiding and later carried to the Holy Land. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá interred them on Mount Carmel in 1909; the golden-domed shrine was completed in 1953.*

The Báb’s remains reached Haifa after decades of concealment following his execution in Persia. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá placed them in a stone mausoleum on Mount Carmel in 1909, fulfilling Bahá’u’lláh’s direction that the Báb be buried there. The familiar golden-domed superstructure was completed in 1953.

## From Tabriz to Mount Carmel

The Báb, whose title means “Gate,” was publicly executed in Tabriz on 9 July 1850. Bahá’í accounts state that followers concealed his remains to protect them. After they were moved between secure locations, they were brought to the Holy Land in 1899, during ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s leadership of the community. The remains were kept in Haifa until the mausoleum was ready.

In March 1909, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá interred the remains in the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. The official [life of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá](https://www.bahai.org/abdul-baha/life-abdul-baha) identifies this interment and the shrine he constructed. The site stands on the slope Bahá’u’lláh had designated for the faith’s spiritual centre.

## The shrine’s construction

The first mausoleum was a stone building. Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, later commissioned architect William Sutherland Maxwell to design a larger structure around it. Construction of the superstructure began in the late 1940s, and the Shrine was completed in 1953. Its dome and colonnade give the building the distinctive silhouette visible above Haifa.

The Bahá’í World News Service’s history of the [Mount Carmel development](https://news.bahai.org/story/79/reshaping-gods-holy-mountain-create-vision-peace-beauty-all-humanity) dates the interment to 1909 and completion of the golden-domed shrine to 1953. UNESCO includes the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens in the [Bahá’í Holy Places listing](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220/), alongside the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh near Acre.

## A place of pilgrimage

Bahá’ís consider the Shrine of the Báb one of their most sacred places. It is the focus of the terraces on Mount Carmel and part of a wider pilgrimage network across Haifa and the Western Galilee. The Báb’s shrine history is closely connected to Bahá’u’lláh’s exile and the location of the World Centre; see [why the World Centre is in Haifa and Acre](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/bah-u-ll-h-s-ottoman-exile-and-the-holy-land-foundation).

## Pages

- [Why the Bahá’í World Centre is in Haifa and Acre](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/bah-u-ll-h-s-ottoman-exile-and-the-holy-land-foundation.md)
- [The Bahá’í Terraces and UNESCO Listing](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-nineteen-terraces-of-mount-carmel-in-haifa.md)
- [The Universal House of Justice and the Arc](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-universal-house-of-justice-seat-of-bah-governance.md)
- [The World Centre, Its Volunteers, and Haifa](/resources/bah-world-centre-in-haifa-global-spiritual-headquarters/the-bahai-non-proselytization-policy-and-haifa-volunteers.md)

## Sources

- [bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org/abdul-baha/life-abdul-baha)
- [news.bahai.org](https://news.bahai.org/story/79/reshaping-gods-holy-mountain-create-vision-peace-beauty-all-humanity)
- [whc.unesco.org](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220/)