Must see attractions in Tehran

One of Tehran's most attractive shrines, Imamzadeh Saleh provides a photogenic focus to Tajrish Sq with its twin minarets and dome covered in beautiful…

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…

Closed for renovations until 2018 this Qajar period building in the Niyavaran Cultural Historic Complex was once Nasser-al Din Shah’s harem before later…

Tehran’s biggest cemetery is interesting primarily because it’s the main resting place for those who died in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88). Like windows…

Immediately west of Niyavaran Palace in the cultural-historic complex, this attractive two-storey mansion dating from the early 20th century was last used…

Also known as the People's House, the country's legislative body occupies a compound that is defined by the modern pyramid-shaped debating chamber where…

At the centre of political change in Iran, Tehran University is a fascinating place to wander around. There is, however, a ban on foreign nonstudents…

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…

Just before the exit of the Niyavaran Cultural-Historic Complex is this small collection of cars and toy motorbikes used by Shah's family. There are two…

Drop by here, one of the smaller museums in the Sa'd Abad complex, as much for the faux-French architecture (check out the elegant double staircase…

At the Sa'd Abad Museum Complex and set inside and around a palace that belonged to the shah’s nephew Shahram, this museum contains a wide range of…

Weave your way through the bazaar to find this ornately decorated shrine to a descendant of the prophet.

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…

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…

Under construction since the 1990s, this mammoth mosque, with 230m-tall minarets, will be one of the largest in the world when eventually completed – an…

This minor attraction within the sprawling Sa’d Abad Museum Complex is one for motorheads with its well-buffed collection of Rolls Royce and Cadillac, and…

Dating from 1892, the old Cossacks Quarters forms an impressive architectural flourish at the northern end of pedestrian Melal-e Mottahed, the street once…