Azarbayjan Museum

Entrance is through a great brick portal with big wooden doors guarded by two stone rams. Ground-floor exhibits include finds from Hasanlu, a superb 3000-year-old copper helmet and curious stone ‘handbags’ from the 3rd millennium BC. Found near Kerman these were supposedly symbols of wealth once carried by provincial treasurers. The basement features Ahad Hossein’s powerful if disturbing sculptural allegories of life and war. The top floor displays a re-weave of the famous Chelsea carpet, reckoned to be one of the best ever made. The original is so-called because it was last sold on King’s Rd, Chelsea, some 50 years ago, ending up in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.