| The houses near the Shrines of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh where pilgrims gather for rest and refreshment during their visits to these Shrines. |
| A caravanserai in 'Akká, the K̲h̲án-i-'Avámíd, was the first place used by pilgrims as a pilgrim house. Two of its rooms were frequently used by pilgrims who had travelled to the Holy Land to meet Bahá'u'lláh. |
| About 1892 'Abdu'l-Bahá rented the house at Bahjí which is now known as the Pilgrim House. The property was acquired about 1956 from the Israeli Government in exchange for other land owned by the Bahá'ís in Em Gev. This house is now used by pilgrims visiting the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh. |
| Soon after 'Abdu'l-Bahá interred the remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel, MIrzá Ja'far Raḥmání of 'Is̲h̲qábád asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá to allow him to build a pilgrim house near the Shrine of the Báb. 'Abdu'l-Bahá agreed and this believer personally supervised its construction and paid all the expenses. It is a stone building which for decades housed the pilgrims from Iran, hence its name 'Eastern Pilgrim House'. A pilgrim house for the use of pilgrims from the West was begun in 1919 on land donated by a Persian believer and partly paid for by William Harry Randall. Amelia Collins provided the funds for the rest of the building in 1923 and when it was finished a few years later it became the Western Pilgrim House. In 1951 it became the seat of the International Bahá'í Council, later the first Seat of the Universal House of Justice, and is now the temporary seat of the International Teaching Centre. |
| [BD 176-178] |
