Tehran

“Teh Ran” the two words in Old Persian meaning a “Warm place” form the word Tehran and make it a very welcoming place to visit with its warm summers and cold snowy winters. Spread across the foot of Alborz mountain range Tehran, the Capital city of Iran is also the largest city in the country. The city is also the administrative hub of the country with possibly all sorts of industry based there. The city is characterized by its enormous network of highways like nowhere in western Asia. In the start of 20th century a chunk of people migrated in the city from all around Iran and hence you can see a mix of ethnic and religious minorities as well as religious sites in the city. In the beginning of 18th century, Karim Khan Zand created a government office in Tehran and thus declared it as his capital. However, he turned the government to Shiraz later. Tehran again was declared as Capital of Persia in 1794. After the World War II Mohammad Reza Shah became the ruler. He did not want to have the ancient landmarks in the modern city and so he destroyed and built modern buildings with apartment blocks as well as wider roads in those places between 1950 and 1960. This upset the cultural identity of the city which could not be restored back. During the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 – 1988 Tehran suffered many missile attacks and after the war for war refugee cheap apartments kept on building in the city without any proper plan adding to the mess. Today Tehran style architecture is completely lost from the city and modern high rise buildings dominate the city’s skyline. Tehran has become a polluted and congested place and hence the government is thinking of shifting the capital to another city.

Azadi Tower

The 50 meters high Azadi Tower which represents the city of Tehran is located in Azadi Cultural complex at Azadi Square. The square has many more halls displaying cultural and religious life in Iran. It also holds a few art galleries with temporary exhibitions and art shows. The area has a cinema theater and a library as well. The Milad Tower in Tehran is the world’s fourth tallest free standing building and is also Iran’s tallest building.

Peacock Throne

As the name suggests this throne is built in the peacock shape. The figure of two peacocks adorned with precious jewels like sapphires, rubies, emeralds and pearls are supporting the throne. This throne was created for the Moghal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th Century and the famous diamond Kohinoor was also positioned in this throne which was removed later. According to a report on History Channel, the throne is worth $ 1 billion today. Emperor Nader Shah attacked the Moghal empire in the year 1738 and returned to Persia with original peacock throne along with many other precious treasures, since then the throne represents the Iranian monarchy. However, in 1747 the original Peacock throne was destroyed after Nader Shah’s assassination. Still the Iranian thrones are referred to as Peacock Thrones.

Golestan Palace

Golestan Palace is the oldest historic monuments remaining in Tehran today. The Palace was formerly the royal Qajar complex. Golestan Palace or Gulistan Palace literally means the palace of flowers. The Palace was renovated as it looks today in the year 1865. Between 1925 and 1970 the palace was used as formal royal reception place and two of the emperors had had their coronation ceremonies in the palace. However, one of the emperors though that the size of the palace is disturbing the development of the modern city and hence he destroyed some parts of it between 1925 and 1945 and built modern commercial buildings during 1950 and 1960. However, Golestan Palace still reflects its history of 400 years with many renovations done on it. The Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran has submitted the palace to UNESCO to be included in the World Heritage list.

National Museum of Iran

Located in central Iran and designed by a French architect, Andre Godard, the National Museum of Iran was inaugurated in 1937. It is a place to visit ancient Persian antique items like Pottery vessels, books, coins, metal objects and such. However, since the current building is not adequate for preservation of all excavated treasures, plans for constructing a new building are in progress. The museum proudly hosts many ancient artifacts and human and animal figurines as old as 9000 years back. In fact, many antiques and artifacts are loaned to other museums in the world. One of the museums two buildings is The museum consists of two buildings reserved for pre-Islamic collections and the other for the post-Islamic antiques, which was started in 1996 and hosts a range of textiles, pottery, artworks and samples of calligraphy as old as 1400 years of Islamic history in Iran.

Museum of Contemporary Art

One of the largest collections of western modern art outside Europe and the USA is found in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran. Designed using traditional Persian architectural elements by Kamran Diba the museum was founded in 1977. The museum proudly displays works by international artists like Van Gogh, Edouard Vuillard, Andre Duoyer de Segonzac, James Ensor, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Adolph Gottlieb, Richard Hamilton, Evard Munch, Pierre Soulages and many other famous artists.

Carpet Museum of Iran

Founded in 1976 and located besides Laleh Park the carpet Museum of Iran displays a wide range of Persian carpet varieties from across Iran. The collection ranges from carpets from 18th century till today’s modern designs. Sprawled across 3400 square meters the museum also hosts a library with 7000 different books. The last Queen of Iran, Farah Diba Pahlavi designed the museum with the exterior structure looking like a carpet loom, which also gives shade on the exterior walls keeping the interior temperature cooler.

Mount Damavand

Mount Damavand is a dead volcano point and is the highest peak in Iran. The mountain is covered in snow most of the year long making it a spectacular site to watch from Tehran. It also invites the adventure lovers and mountain trekkers to challenge. At 5671 meters of height Mount Damavand is the highest volcano in Asia. Mount Damavand is located in the alborz rane of mountains which is a favorite place of ski lovers in winter. Iranian folklore and mythology tell many stories about Mount Damavand. The three headed dragon is believed to have chained somewhere in the Mount Damavand and will remain there till the end of the world.