Tehran | Capital of the second Large Country in the Middle East

Iran Tour Packages | Tehran, the most populous city in Western Asia and the second largest metropolitan area in the middle east.
The capital has been moved for several times during the history of Iran and Tehran is the 32nd capital city. It was first chosen by the king of Qajar dynasty, Agha Mohammad Khan, in 1796. We know 6th of October as the day of Tehran! On this day Tehran officially became the capital city of Iran. On this day you can buy cinema tickets with 50% discount; and also, visit all museums and monuments located in Tehran for free.
Large scale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920’s; and Tehran has been a destination for mass migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century.

Tehran tourism attractions

Tehran is home to many historical collections and beautiful landmarks such as Niavaran complex, Sa’dabad complex, Golestan place, Azadi tower, Tabiaat bridge and Milad tower.

Sa’dabad Complex

It is a 300 hectare complex which natural forests cover more than 180 hectares of it.
Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs built the complex, located in Greater Tehran, Shemiran.
Building the complex was during the Qajar dynasty and it was the residence of Qajar kings during the summer – quarts.
Reza Shah of the Pahlavi Dynasty resided there in the 1920’s and His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, moved there in the 1970’s. The latest building of the complex is “Leila palace“; they named it after the youngest daughter of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The complex became a public museum after the 1970’s revolution.

Shahvand Palace

Shahvand palace, or the Green palace, goes back to 1922, and the architecture of this palace was Mirza Ja’afar Kashi. It took 6 years to complete the palace. It is located in North west of Sa’dabad complex and it was residence of Reza Pahlavi. The outward appearance was built with marble stones; and that’s why some people also know it as the Marble palace. Hossein Behzad have illuminated the walls. And the beautiful fact that you can see in this palace is that the pattern of the rug, located in the center of the hall, that have harmony with the ceiling’s motif.

White Palace

White palace or Nation palace is the biggest palace in the whole complex. It was Mohammadreza and Farah Pahlavi’s Summer-quart residence. The outward color of the palace has given the name “White palace” to it. The appearance is in Iranian-Roman style; and there are some paintings around the first floor’s balcony with the content of Iranian mythology, Shahnameh.

Azadi tower

Azadi tower, also known as Shahyad tower, is a memorial building. They built it under the order of Mohammad Reza Shah, to mark the 2,500th year of the foundation of the Imperial State of Iran.
This monument is located on Azadi square in Tehran; and it was built by Hossein Amanat in 1971.
He had won an award do design the tower in 1966. According to an interview he had with BBC World News, he was inspired to design the tower in the way that “it starts from the base and moves up towards the sky”; because of the feeling he had that Iran “should move towards a higher level”.

At first they planned to name the building Darvāze-ye Kuroš (“Gate of Cyrus”); but Bahram Farahvashi, a scholar and professor of ancient Iranian languages who worked with the Council of Celebrations, came up with the officially designated name of the structure, Šahyād Āryāmehr. They finally named the structure “Shahyad” (means: (“Shah’s Memorial”) in honor of the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi). They opened it to public in 1972; and after 1979 Revolution the building’s name changed to Azadi tower.

Milad Tower

Milad tower or ,Tehran tower, built in 2000 in order to be a new symbol for Tehran city instead of Azadi tower. With 435 meters tall, it is the sixth-tallest tower and the 24th-tallest freestanding structure in the world. Milad Tower was part of the Shahestan Pahlavi project, a vast development for a new government and commercial center for Tehran. They designed the project in the 1970’s but never got the chance to materialize it, except for the Tower.
In 1997 they finally commenced the construction of the tower; but building it officially started in 2000 and it took about 7 years to finish. In October 7, 2008 people could finally visit the new symbol of the capital. Milad tower has 5 main parts:

1. The foundation
2. Transition (lobby) structure
3. Shaft
4. Head structure
5. The antenna mast

The lobby structure consists of six floors. The first three floors consist of 63 trade units, 11 food courts, a cafeteria, and a commercial products exhibition which is supposed to be about 260 square meters .
Milad Tower has an octagonal base, symbolizing traditional Iranian architecture.

References: Wikipedia
BBC World News