TEHRAN - Sprawled on about 110 hectares of a mountainside parkland in northern Teharn, the Sadabad Cultural-Historical Complex is used to be a royal summer residence during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras.

The complex was initially established and inhabited by some Qajar monarchs in the 19th century. It has underwent further expansions since the 1920s until the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

The site embraces a variety of buildings some of which turned to be house museums showcasing a wide range of royal families’ memorabilia including lavishly-made furniture, dishware, automobiles, carpets, and miniature paintings.

The two-story Mellat Palace Museum, also called White Palace, is the largest mansion in the complex. It was completed in 1937, comprising ten large ceremonial saloons filled with extravagant furnishings, paintings. The two bronze boots outside the palace are remains of a giant statue of Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

Here is a select of comments that visitors to the historical complex have posted to TripAdvisor, one of the most popular travel websites in the world:

Worth visiting

When you queue up for tickets, have a local buy the tickets as it’s cheaper for locals compared with foreigners. There are so many places to visit and each one you have to pay into…

Lot of walking involved so wear sneakers! (Roryjdoyle from Kuala Lumpur, visited August 2016)

Wonderful

The complex is a series of non-connected building set in massive grounds. I visited the Green Palace, The White Palace, the Museum of Costumes, the museum of ceramics and the cars museum. Glorious. Loved it. There is a shuttle service to get you around because it is vast and hilly is places but it’s also nice to walk around. (Craig G. form London, visited June 2016)

Peaceful break from the city

Gorgeous palace with interesting stories to be told about the history of Reza Shah, and very helpful guides (in different languages) to explain about the buildings, furniture and art. All set in the tranquil gardens where you can barely even hear the city! Lovely break, strongly recommend this. (Chynalucia form Aberdeen, United Kingdom; visited April 2016)

Requires some time and some money

Like with the Golestan palace [in central Tehran] this place has many different small museums/exhibitions and if you want to visit them all you will need both a lot of money and time… (Alf Lundsten form Espoo, Finland; visited November 2016)

The picture above depicts the Mellat Palace Museum at the Sadabad Cultural-Historical Complex in northern Tehran. 

AFM/MG