TEHRAN -- Iran annually celebrates national cultural heritage week from May 18 to 24. During the event, the museums are free of charge for the visitors.

A beautiful old house on the Sheikh Hadi Street in central Tehran is a must-see for all tourists. When you enter the house’s vestibule (hashti), you forget about traffic jam and crowd on adjacent streets. The walls separate this little paradise from the metropolitan.

The last owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Moqaddam converted the edifice into a fantastic museum. The couple, who were adventurers and avid of history, put a nice collection of items they gathered from locals or through their own excavations in Iran at the museum.

The house came to be known as such in the 1950s and 60s when Professor Arthur Upham Pope, the American art historian, wrote an article entitled “Survey of Iranian Arts” in Sepid-o-Siah magazine about this unique house and its valuable historical objects.

Mohsen Moqaddam, the elder son of the Qajar-era courtier Mohammad-Taqi Khan Ehtesabolmolk, resided in the house with his French wife Selma.

Mohsen loved painting since his childhood. He studied painting at Kamal-ol-Molk School. Later with his brother Hassan, Mohsen was sent to Switzerland to study painting.

He returned to Iran during the WWII, but left again, this time to study history and archaeology. On returning home he became the supervisor of archaeological teams, which excavated various historical sites such as Deylaman and Susa.

He was the first Iranian archeologist who worked with international professionals during his excavations. He was the founder of Fine Art College and was professor at University of Tehran.

The couple decided to dedicate their lives to set up a museum of all the valuable objects on the verge of demolition.

They decided never to have children. For them, the historical objects are considered as children which they should look after and leave for the next generations.

The house is consists of two parts: Biruni (public part) and andaruni (private part). The house is decorated with valuable golden tiles, which are put in a suitable place in order to be preserved. Some of these tiles are absolutely unique in the world.

Moqaddam’s textile collection is also among rare textile collections of the world. They are publicly displayed in a glass frame. There is also a small room next to the entrance door to the basement with all its door and walls decorated with valuable and semi-valuable gems and beautiful corals.

--------- How Moqaddams gather historical objects?

In his journals, Moqaddam explained how he has found most of the existing historical objects now on display, buying them either from vendors or house-owners intending to destroy their historical houses with whatever inside them. He bought some of the items were smuggled and he bought during his trips to the foreign countries personally and bring them back to Iran.

However, there are some historical objects, which were presented to him by foreign ambassadors or guests, like those which are speculated to be from Jerusalem.

Some objects like the red potteries of Cheshmeh-Ali dating back to the fifth millennium before Christ, which are extremely valuable and nobody knows how they have found their way to this house.

Moqaddam bequeathed his family house to Tehran University in 1972 and left this world in 1982. After his death the house was in custodianship of his life-companion until 1990 when she handed it to the University of Tehran.

The museum was opened to the public in august 2009 after the required restoration work was terminated.

PHOTO: A view of Moqaddam Museum in Tehan (Saleheh Mohseni-Parsa/Mehr