Ringed by perpetually seething traffic, Imam Khomeini Sq is not a place to linger. Little of the grandeur of the Qajar era remains here, although there is still a fountain and pool in front of the plinth that once held up a statue of Reza Shah.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.42 MILES
The glories and excesses of the Qajar rulers are played out across this complex of grand buildings decorated with beautifully painted tiles and set around…
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8.76 MILES
Sprawling across the foothills of Darband, this estate was a summer home to royals since the Qajar dynasty, although it was the Pahlavis who expanded it…
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0.6 MILES
The maze of bustling alleys and the bazaris (shopkeepers) that fill them make this a fascinating, if somewhat daunting, place to explore. Despite being…
0.5 MILES
Owned by the Central Bank and accessed through its front doors, the cavernous vault that houses what is commonly known as the ‘Jewels Museum’ is not to be…
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Niyavaran Cultural-Historic Complex
9.16 MILES
In the Alborz foothills is the palace where Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family spent most of the last 10 years of royal rule. It’s set in 5…
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4.65 MILES
This epic-scale museum, on a landscaped site of 21 hectares, is dedicated to the Iran–Iraq War, a bloody eight-year conflict that claimed a million lives…
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4.81 MILES
The inverted-Y-shaped Azadi Tower, built in 1971 to commemorate the 2500th anniversary of the first Persian empire, is one of Tehran's visual icons…
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0.34 MILES
Next door to the National Museum, and part of the same complex, this museum offers a stunning collection of arts and antiquities from throughout the…
Nearby Tehran attractions
0.06 MILES
The late 19th-century building housing the first public bank in Iran sits at the east end of Imam Khomeini Sq. At the time of writing the brick building…
0.13 MILES
Established in 1851, this was Iran's first modern university and parts of it have recently been handsomely restored with the aim of making it into a…
0.18 MILES
There's nothing subtle about the graphic displays (suitable for adults only) in the one-time prison of the shah’s brutal secret police. A prime example of…
0.27 MILES
The decorative gateway to the National Garden complex of museums and government buildings, dates from 1906 and was renovated in 1922 by the Minister of…
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
0.29 MILES
Building No 9 of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs occupies the former Shahrbani Palace on the pedestrianised street once know as Barg-e Melli (National…
6. Malek National Library & Museum
0.3 MILES
On display at this private museum and library are pieces from the collection of Hadji Hussein Agha Malek, in the 1930s one of the richest men in Iran. The…
0.34 MILES
Dating from 1892, the old Cossacks Quarters forms an impressive architectural flourish at the northern end of pedestrian Melal-e Mottahed, the street once…
0.34 MILES
Next door to the National Museum, and part of the same complex, this museum offers a stunning collection of arts and antiquities from throughout the…