TEHRAN—A collection of old and recent photos of the Iranian capital has been put on show at the UNESCO-designated Golestan Palace in downtown Tehran.

The three-day exhibition opened on Sunday at Shams-ol-Emareh (“Edifice of the Sun”), a 19th-century architectural masterpiece located within Tehran’s sole World Heritage site.

Organized to mark Tehran Week which, comes to an end on October 12, the event features a selection of 40 works taken by 20 photographers, CHTN reported.

Golestan Palace was once the official residence of the Qajar monarchs who ruled the country between 1789 and 1925. The lavishly decorated property displays a remarkable mixture of ancient Persian and contemporary European architectural styles, which characterized much of Iranian art in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The first time Tehran is mentioned in historical accounts is in an 11th-century chronicle in which it is described as a small village north of Ray. Bearing signs of settlement dating more than 6000 years, Ray is often considered to be Tehran’s predecessor. It became the capital city of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century but later declined with factional strife between different neighborhoods and the Mongol invasion of 1220.

The Iranian capital has many to offer its visitors including the Grand Bazaar, Treasury of National Jewels, National Museum of Iran, Glass & Ceramic Museum, Masoudieh Palace, Sarkis Cathedral, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, and Carpet Museum of Iran, to name a few.

AFM