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Security is extremely strict for entering the museum. No bags, cameras or phones are allowed, and these must be deposited before you even go through the entrance doors, in a little kiosk in the courtyard. You get a receipt obviously. I was allowed to take a pen and my trusty notebook with me, which was good. You are searched when entering the front door and go through an X-ray arch into the vault. Don’t even try to take any of the forbidden items in with you; it really isn’t worth the hassle, as security is spot on.
Picture one shows one of the many Nadir aigrettes worn by Reza Khan Pahlavi. It is set with diamonds and coloured emeralds. The diamonds surrounding the central emerald represent flags, drums, cannons and spears. The whole thing weighs 871 carats.
Picture two shows a rather ostentatious aigrette set with turquoises. The large stone in the centre is said to represent the sun and the rays from the sun end in stones in which the face of Nasser-ed-din-Shah have been carved.
Picture three shows a Turquoise coffee cup support set in a scroll design. From Nasser-ed-din Shah period (1831-1896)
Picture four shows that not all the pieces are old – this is a necklace from 1967 made of platinum and emeralds.
Picture five shows a gold brooch set with diamonds, rubies and opals in a flower design. Leave a Comment
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In the middle of the park is a lovely tea house, with a traditionally dressed old gentleman sitting outside next to an old fashioned samovar and a qalyan (water pipe). His job was purely to attract customers to the tea house. Inside it was very busy, but there were a couple of tables free. There is a choice of sitting on the floor (beds covered with carpets) or conventional seats. With our bad backs I’m afraid we chose the seats. Tea comes with little biscuits and the lovely saffron sugar sheets so favoured in tea houses. We didn’t have a qalyan at this time, as we were merely stopping for a quick drink rather than a leisurely tea. They serve food in the tea house too – there was a big reunion of lots of men, shaking hands and holding speeches. They looked important! Obviously THE place to go for important business meetings. Leave a Comment
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Picture 1: Glass perfume bottle, enamelled sand molded 1st century BC. Eastern Mediterranean style.
Picture 2: Glass perfume bottles (amphora), sand molded 2nd century BC. Eastern Mediterranean style.
Picture 3: Head objects in the form of humans. Hand made – frit made. 4th – 6th century BC. In the style of around Black Sea Civilisations.
Picture 4: Compound ceramic vessel, wheel made, 1st millennium BC, Gheytarieh.
Picture 5: On the left you can see a ceramic rhyton in the form of a bull. Molded. 1st Millenium BC Marlik. The item on the right hand side of the picture is a ceramic ewer in the shape of a goat. Molded. 1st millennium BC, Northwest Iran. Leave a Comment
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Through a large iron gate and past half a dozen policemen under the Melli bank is this incredible museum. Owned by the central bank but actually housed underneath the central branch of the Bank Melli, this museum is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Tehran. The jewels in this museum has caused wars and it is tightly guarded today. Some of the highlights are the Peacock throne encrusted with 25,000 gems and the Globe of Jewels made in the late 1800s using over 50,000 emeralds, rubies and diamonds. The globe is like nothing else I have ever seen in my life and it was one of the most incredible exhibits in any museum. Fantastic museum!! Leave a Comment
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Be very careful inside the museum, whatever you do, don’t touch the glass cases surrounding the exhibits, as this sets off the alarm. It happened several times whilst we were in there: loud sirens and a loudspeaker warning in Farsi. We didn’t see any guards run in with handcuffs or anything like that though, which was a bit disappointing.
Picture one shows three little brooches made in the shape of a duck and two swans. They stem from the 19th century and are fashioned from blister pearls and are adorned with diamonds. While the swans have white pearls, the little duck has a black pearl. You can see one of the swans is carrying a gem in its beak.
Picture two shows a diamond brooch in the shape of a bird, with its crest and eye made from rubies. This was, in my opinion, one of the nicer brooches.
Picture three shows one of a pair of candlestick which were found at either side just inside the entrance. It is set with emeralds and pearls hanging from the wax guard. The two candlesticks were used on either side of the Peacock Throne (see later tip) during ceremonial occasions in the Golsetan Palace (see separate tip for Golestan Palace).
Picture four shows a rather odd looking object, which is in fact a water pipe decorated with emeralds, diamonds rubies and pearls. From the early 1800s.
Picture five shows another water pipe from the 19th century set with spiral rows of turquoises and rubies. Leave a Comment
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There are explanations in English too, which always helps us poor, non-native-speakers gain a better understanding of what we are seeing. The explanations are not very comprehensive, as you can see from the pictures, but at least it gives you some idea of the age and usage of the item you are looking at. Leave a Comment
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Picture 1: Ceramic compound vessel, lustre painted, molded. 13th century Gorgan.
Picture 2: Ceramic ewer, lustre painted and molded. 13th century AD Kashan.
Picture 3: Glass beaker, facet decoration, mold blown. 11th century Nishapur.
Picture 4: Compound vessel in three pieces, cut with blown decoration. 19th century Bohemia. Leave a Comment
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Golestan Palace is probably the premier tourist attraction in Tehran, and for very good reason. Not only is it a historical palace from the reign of Karim Khan Zand, it is also a selection of museums housed in some beautiful buildings. Well worth a visit even if only for the buildings themselves. There is some fine tilework and beautiful colours within the Islamic architecture.
The Palace charges separate admissions for each of the museums, we paid 20,000 IRR each for all the six rooms that were open at the time of our visit. This does vary, so if you are interested in a particular exhibition, check first. Leave a Comment
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 by grets
The bookshops opposite the university are a great place to pick up English language books; I bought a copy of “Surviving an attack of weapons of mass destruction” as a rather ironic souvenir. Leave a Comment
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Favourite pieces. We came to see two specific pieces (see tips below), but in the end it was the globe in picture one that ended up completely blowing my mind away. Nassar-ed-din ordered the globe to be made in 1869. Ebrahim Massini supervised a group of Iranian craftsmen during the construction. 51,366 loose stones from the Treasury were used, and in total it contains 3.656kg of precious stones. The entire globe weighs 34kg.
We spent ages trying to locate the various countries in the world on the globe, and with a little bit of imagination, it becomes obvious. Oceans and seas are reflected in emeralds, whereas the land masses are shown in rubies. Certain countries, such as Iran, France, England as well as Southeast Asia are specified with diamonds (I feel special!). India is made from red rubies, whereas sub-Saharan Africa is shown in sapphires. The equator is marked in diamonds. The globe is about 66cm in diameter, displayed on a stand of gold-plated wood studded with gems. Quite a masterpiece and totally awesome!
There is a smaller globe (see picture two) which is just a table decoration, and nowhere near as impressive. It is decorated with rubies and emeralds.
The object in picture three is only really a favourite because of its name: ewer (pitcher) is another one of the new words I learned in Iran. Leave a Comment
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